Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB - Free Report) by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,108 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 6,766 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned approximately 0.41% of Mesa Laboratories worth $2,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 66.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,044 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,565 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 194,330 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $21,324,000 after acquiring an additional 4,801 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 643.8% during the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 64,776 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $7,108,000 after purchasing an additional 56,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 373,397 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $40,973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,119 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.60% of the company's stock.
In other news, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $187,375.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $286,095.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,213,794.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $187,375.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Shares of NASDAQ MLAB opened at $118.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $638.38 million, a PE ratio of -2.52 and a beta of 0.85. The firm's 50-day moving average is $126.44 and its 200-day moving average is $113.87. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.86 and a 1 year high of $141.17.
Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.55. Mesa Laboratories had a negative net margin of 111.89% and a positive return on equity of 18.95%. The business had revenue of $58.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.90 million. Equities analysts expect that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 7.91 EPS for the current year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Mesa Laboratories's payout ratio is currently -1.38%.
A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Mesa Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MLAB
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.
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