Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Trading Up 12.3% After Strong Earnings

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) shares shot up 12.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $143.94 and last traded at $150.43. 4,303 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 28,974 shares. The stock had previously closed at $133.93.

The medical instruments supplier reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.66. Mesa Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 28.52% and a negative net margin of 107.56%.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is -1.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Institutional Trading of Mesa Laboratories

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Mesa Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $70,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $183,000. Berry Wealth Group LP purchased a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 1,588 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $133.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $754.23 million, a PE ratio of -3.05 and a beta of 0.83.

About Mesa Laboratories

Mesa Laboratories, Inc develops, designs, manufactures, sells, and services life sciences tools and quality control products and services in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The Sterilization and Disinfection Control segment offers biological, chemical, and cleaning indicators, used to assess the effectiveness of sterilization decontamination, disinfection, and cleaning processes in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare industries.