Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Mesa Laboratories from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, reflecting a more cautious outlook on the company's stock performance.
• Wells Fargo & Company revised their price target for Mesa Laboratories, lowering it from $100.00 to $67.00 after raising their rating from "underweight" to "equal weight."
• A significant number of insiders sold shares recently, with senior vice president Brian David Archbold selling 472 shares and CFO John Sakys selling 642 shares at an average price of $97.12 per share.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Mesa Laboratories from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of MLAB stock traded down $3.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.49. 115,557 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 84,833. The company has a market capitalization of $332.70 million, a PE ratio of -432.07 and a beta of 0.83. Mesa Laboratories has a 12-month low of $55.45 and a 12-month high of $155.12. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $87.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total value of $45,840.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $54,192.96. This trade represents a 45.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 1,939 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total transaction of $188,315.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 45,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,450,426.88. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,053 shares of company stock worth $296,507. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLAB. State of Wyoming increased its position in Mesa Laboratories by 501.4% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 427 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Mesa Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $67,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Mesa Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $92,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,323 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 72.9% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,328 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.60% of the company's stock.

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.