Zacks Research Upgrades Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) to "Hold"

Key Points

• Zacks Research has upgraded Mesa Laboratories from a "strong sell" to a "hold" rating, signaling a shift in analysts' outlook on the company's stock.
• Mesa Laboratories currently has an average price target of $113.50 and is considered to have a mixed rating with one analyst rating it as a buy and two as hold.
• Insider transactions revealed that CEO Gary M. Owens and CFO John Sakys both sold shares recently, reducing their ownership stakes by 4.06% and 4.75%, respectively.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

MLAB has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mesa Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Mesa Laboratories from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $113.50.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of MLAB stock opened at $69.2550 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Mesa Laboratories has a 52 week low of $55.45 and a 52 week high of $155.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.90 million, a PE ratio of -494.68 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $82.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.85.

Insider Transactions at Mesa Laboratories

In other news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 1,939 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total transaction of $188,315.68. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John Sakys sold 642 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 $62,351.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 12,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,249,448.80. This trade represents a 4.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 501.4% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 427 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 115.3% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 786 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 432.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 842 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in 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 in 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.

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