Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) Shares Bought by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 22.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,036 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Mesa Laboratories were worth $242,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MLAB. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 99.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,444 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 4,698 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 382,856 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,487,000 after acquiring an additional 5,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $1,888,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $736,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $92,000. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 1,939 shares of Mesa Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total transaction of $188,315.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 45,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,450,426.88. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John Sakys sold 642 shares of Mesa Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total value of $62,351.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 12,865 shares in the company, valued at $1,249,448.80. This represents a 4.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,053 shares of company stock worth $296,507. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MLAB opened at $64.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -459.21 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.62. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.45 and a 52-week high of $155.12.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently -457.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday.

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.