Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Shares Down 4.8% – Should You Sell?

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)’s share price traded down 4.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $141.01 and last traded at $137.84. 2,368 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 29,716 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MLAB shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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.

Mesa Laboratories Trading Down 2.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $766.39 million, a PE ratio of -3.11 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.20.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $57.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.60 million. Mesa Laboratories had a negative net margin of 107.56% and a positive return on equity of 28.52%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 7.39 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 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 45,888 shares in the company, valued at $5,213,794.56. The trade was a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 34.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Mesa Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $70,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mesa Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $183,000. Finally, Berry Wealth Group LP purchased a new position in Mesa Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

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.