Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 27.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,444 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Mesa Laboratories were worth $828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% in 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 period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 2,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Mesa Laboratories by 34.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $286,095.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,213,794.56. This represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Down 1.9 %

Mesa Laboratories stock opened at $133.06 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $120.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.70. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a twelve month low of $83.68 and a twelve month high of $141.17. The firm has a market cap of $722.65 million, a PE ratio of -2.92 and a beta of 0.86.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MLAB shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

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.