Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on MLAB. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Mesa Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

NASDAQ MLAB opened at $133.06 on Friday. Mesa Laboratories has a one year low of $82.86 and a one year high of $141.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $127.45 and a 200 day moving average of $112.56. The company has a market capitalization of $719.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.82 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.55. Mesa Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 18.95% and a negative net margin of 111.89%. The business had revenue of $58.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mesa Laboratories will post 7.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $187,375.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mesa Laboratories

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Mesa Laboratories during the second quarter worth $26,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 35.2% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 741 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mesa Laboratories during the second quarter worth $183,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 4.0% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 2,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new position in Mesa Laboratories during the second quarter worth $265,000. 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.