Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 25,070 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 32,768 shares.The stock last traded at $137.99 and had previously closed at $144.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $757.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.01 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.66. Mesa Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 30.23% and a negative net margin of 104.92%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MLAB. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 100.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,389 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,698 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 44.1% during the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 22,108 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,871,000 after purchasing an additional 6,766 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 1,588 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 21.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 35,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,559,000 after purchasing an additional 6,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 90.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,001 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 6,643 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

About Mesa Laboratories

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.