Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MLAB. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $94.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mesa Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.00.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Mesa Laboratories stock opened at $107.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $602.78 million, a PE ratio of 128.14 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Mesa Laboratories has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $115.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.26.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Mesa Laboratories had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 1.92%.The firm had revenue of $60.14 million during the quarter.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.19%.

Insider Activity at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, Director R Tony Tripeny acquired 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $113.69 per share, with a total value of $102,321.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 6,298 shares in the company, valued at $716,019.62. This trade represents a 16.67% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John Sakys sold 2,827 shares of Mesa Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $253,016.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 19,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,770,757.50. This trade represents a 12.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 15,370 shares of company stock worth $1,570,213 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Mesa Laboratories by 5,366.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 328 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Mesa Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 115.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 786 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 432.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 842 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.