Mesa Laboratories, Inc. $MLAB Shares Acquired by Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 59.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,467 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,723 shares during the period. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Mesa Laboratories were worth $5,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Simcoe Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $12,794,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Mesa Laboratories by 0.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 138,769 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $13,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 218.0% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 123,381 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,268,000 after purchasing an additional 84,582 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 121,546 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $8,145,000 after purchasing an additional 31,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 116,772 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MLAB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $94.00.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

Mesa Laboratories stock opened at $77.96 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.39. The company has a market capitalization of $430.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.81 and a beta of 0.85. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.45 and a 1 year high of $131.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.66. Mesa Laboratories had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 22.02%. The firm had revenue of $65.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.23 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 8 earnings per share for the current year.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Mesa Laboratories

In other news, Director Mark Christopher Capone acquired 1,301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $76.35 per share, for a total transaction of $99,331.35. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $261,804.15. This represents a 61.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Shiraz Shabanali Ladiwala bought 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $72.23 per share, for a total transaction of $252,805.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 8,523 shares in the company, valued at $615,616.29. This represents a 69.68% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 6,116 shares of company stock worth $452,076 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

About Mesa Laboratories

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.