AlphaQuest LLC Acquires 5,994 Shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. $MLAB

AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 9,667.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,994 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Mesa Laboratories were worth $571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MLAB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 384,613 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $45,638,000 after buying an additional 1,757 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 264,013 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $31,328,000 after acquiring an additional 16,218 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 439.0% during the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 73,897 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $8,769,000 after acquiring an additional 60,186 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 4.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,464 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,768,000 after acquiring an additional 2,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 2.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 54,767 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MLAB. Wall Street Zen cut Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Mesa Laboratories from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $100.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Mesa Laboratories from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mesa Laboratories has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

MLAB stock opened at $77.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a one year low of $55.45 and a one year high of $155.12. The stock has a market cap of $428.51 million, a PE ratio of -556.50 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.21.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is -457.14%.

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.