JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Stake in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB - Free Report) by 40.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 3,403 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.09% of Mesa Laboratories worth $660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 382,856 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $50,487,000 after purchasing an additional 5,274 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $132,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 246.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 5,411 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 99.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,444 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 4,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,512,000. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of MLAB traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $118.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,150. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 1-year low of $83.68 and a 1-year high of $155.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $642.65 million, a P/E ratio of -2.56 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $120.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.70.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.66. Mesa Laboratories had a negative net margin of 104.92% and a positive return on equity of 30.23%. Analysts predict that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Mesa Laboratories's payout ratio is currently -1.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 21,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.91, for a total value of $2,602,110.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,337 shares in the company, valued at $5,369,887.67. This represents a 32.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.