Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $148.00 and last traded at $144.35, with a volume of 16966 shares. The stock had previously closed at $139.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MLAB shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com cut Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $786.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.18 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1.40%.

Insider Transactions at Mesa Laboratories

In other news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total value of $286,095.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,888 shares in the company, valued at $5,213,794.56. This represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $26,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Mesa Laboratories by 34.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $183,000. Finally, Berry Wealth Group LP acquired a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. 90.60% of the stock is 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.