Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 5,300 Shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 13.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,659 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.80% of Mesa Laboratories worth $5,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MLAB. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 81.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Mesa Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $92,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $132,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $205,000. Institutional investors own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CFO John Sakys sold 642 shares of Mesa Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,249,448.80. The trade was a 4.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 472 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 value of $45,840.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $54,192.96. The trade was a 45.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,053 shares of company stock worth $296,507. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

MLAB stock opened at $79.03 on Thursday. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.19 and a 12-month high of $155.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $434.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -213.59 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $102.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.28.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -172.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Mesa Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th.

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.