Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Reduces Position in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,663 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 489 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Mesa Laboratories were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLAB. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,755 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Berry Wealth Group LP increased its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 1,657 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,394 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Mesa Laboratories by 1.8% during the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 21,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.91, for a total transaction of $2,602,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,337 shares in the company, valued at $5,369,887.67. This trade represents a 32.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MLAB opened at $121.89 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $83.68 and a twelve month high of $155.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $662.35 million, a PE ratio of -2.63 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $137.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.24.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 8 EPS for the current year.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is -1.38%.

Mesa Laboratories 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.