Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Position in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. $MLAB

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. by 27.1%, owning 17,256 shares valued at approximately $2,048,000.
• Recent insider sales included SVP Brian David Archbold and CFO John Sakys, who sold shares worth a total of approximately $108,191, representing decreases in their ownership positions.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.16, with a completion date on September 15th and an annualized dividend yield of 0.9%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB - Free Report) by 27.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,256 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 3,679 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.32% of Mesa Laboratories worth $2,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MLAB. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 48.3% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,323 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 72.9% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,328 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 22.4% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,036 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $293,000. 90.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

Mesa Laboratories stock traded down $2.73 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $69.33. The stock had a trading volume of 171,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 117,358. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.45 and a 1 year high of $155.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock's 50 day moving average is $79.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.43. The stock has a market cap of $381.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -495.21 and a beta of 0.83.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Mesa Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently -457.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CFO John Sakys sold 642 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total transaction of $62,351.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 12,865 shares in the company, valued at $1,249,448.80. This represents a 4.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total value of $45,840.64. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,192.96. This represents a 45.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,053 shares of company stock worth $296,507 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MLAB. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mesa Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research raised Mesa Laboratories from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Mesa Laboratories from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $113.50.

Mesa Laboratories Profile

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.