Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Lowered to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday.

Mesa Laboratories Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MLAB traded up $3.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $101.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 25,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,943. Mesa Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $83.68 and a fifty-two week high of $155.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $114.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $553.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.19 and a beta of 0.97.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Mesa Laboratories's payout ratio is currently -172.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 21,000 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,369,887.67. This represents a 32.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MLAB. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Mesa Laboratories by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,755 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,147 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,925 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 573,037 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $75,566,000 after purchasing an additional 43,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 246.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 5,411 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $714,000 after buying an additional 3,848 shares during the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mesa Laboratories Company 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.