Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. $MLAB

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 66.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 19,713 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Mesa Laboratories worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 38.3% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 102,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $9,629,000 after purchasing an additional 28,301 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new position in Mesa Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,370,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 436.6% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 19,898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,875,000 after buying an additional 16,190 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 199,092 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $18,758,000 after buying an additional 9,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 96.4% during the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 13,785 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 6,766 shares during the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

Mesa Laboratories stock opened at $93.46 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $84.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.74. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.45 and a 12-month high of $152.03. The stock has a market cap of $515.90 million, a P/E ratio of 146.03 and a beta of 0.89.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $65.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.23 million. Mesa Laboratories had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 22.02%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 8 earnings per share for the current year.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MLAB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Mesa Laboratories from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mesa Laboratories has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

Mesa Laboratories Company Profile

Mesa Laboratories, Inc (NASDAQ: MLAB) is a global provider of instrumentation products designed for critical process monitoring, testing and calibration. Headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado, the company serves a diverse set of end markets including healthcare, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, energy and industrial sectors. With a focus on precision measurement and validation, Mesa Laboratories helps customers ensure regulatory compliance, product safety and operational efficiency across complex manufacturing and sterilization processes.

The company’s product portfolio encompasses biological and chemical indicators for sterilization process validation, digital data loggers and sensors for environmental monitoring, and optical gas analyzers with sample-conditioning solutions for oil, gas and petrochemical applications.