Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 1,757 Shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. $MLAB

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 384,613 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 7.08% of Mesa Laboratories worth $45,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE raised 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 valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 22.4% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,036 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 10.6% in the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,458 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,495,000 after buying an additional 2,824 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 8.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,058 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,261,000 after buying an additional 1,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 2.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 54,767 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,499,000 after buying an additional 1,463 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mesa Laboratories Trading Down 1.2%

Mesa Laboratories stock opened at $72.06 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.69. The company has a market cap of $396.33 million, a P/E ratio of -514.71 and a beta of 0.83. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.45 and a 52-week high of $155.12. 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 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 given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently -457.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 1,939 shares of Mesa Laboratories 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 45,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,450,426.88. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Sakys sold 642 shares of Mesa Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 12,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,249,448.80. The trade was 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 valued at $296,507 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MLAB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Mesa Laboratories from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised Mesa Laboratories from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mesa Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.50.

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.