Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Mesa Laboratories from $94.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Mesa Laboratories from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Mesa Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.00.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Up 2.5%

NASDAQ MLAB opened at $132.55 on Friday. Mesa Laboratories has a twelve month low of $66.56 and a twelve month high of $138.66. The stock has a market cap of $742.28 million, a PE ratio of 157.80 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.79.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Mesa Laboratories had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 1.92%.The firm had revenue of $60.14 million for the quarter.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 76.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mesa Laboratories

In other news, CEO Siddhartha Kadia bought 7,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $112.80 per share, for a total transaction of $800,090.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 7,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,090.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director R Tripeny acquired 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $113.69 per share, with a total value of $102,321.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 6,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,019.62. This represents a 16.67% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $17,321,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor acquired a new position in Mesa Laboratories in the second quarter worth $15,507,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 144,606 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,352,000 after purchasing an additional 23,060 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 7.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 124,630 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,018,000 after purchasing an additional 8,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 125.8% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 115,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,515,000 after buying an additional 64,435 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Mesa Laboratories

Mesa Laboratories, Inc (NASDAQ:MLAB) develops, manufactures and sells products used for quality control, safety monitoring and process validation across healthcare, pharmaceutical, industrial and research markets. The company’s offerings are designed to help customers monitor critical conditions and verify that sterilization, radiation exposure and other controlled processes meet established standards.

Mesa Laboratories’ products include biological and chemical indicators, process challenge devices and related systems for sterilization monitoring.