Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 224,300 shares, a growth of 20.1% from the March 31st total of 186,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 44,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.1 days. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MLAB traded up $3.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $119.06. 27,293 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,268. The company has a market cap of $646.97 million, a PE ratio of -2.57 and a beta of 0.97. Mesa Laboratories has a twelve month low of $83.68 and a twelve month high of $155.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.79.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 positive return on equity of 30.23% and a negative net margin of 104.92%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mesa Laboratories will post 8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Mesa Laboratories's payout ratio is -1.38%.

Insider Activity at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 21,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.91, for a total transaction of $2,602,110.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,369,887.67. The trade was a 32.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 81.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 661 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Mesa Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $92,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $132,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 560 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. Institutional investors own 90.60% of the company's stock.

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.

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