Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $4.56 Million Stock Position in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 21.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,292 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mesa Laboratories were worth $4,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 373,397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $40,973,000 after buying an additional 3,119 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 44.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 22,108 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,871,000 after buying an additional 6,766 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 80,739 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,006,000 after buying an additional 6,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $302,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Up 2.3 %

MLAB opened at $100.86 on Friday. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 1-year low of $83.68 and a 1-year high of $141.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $547.77 million, a PE ratio of -2.21 and a beta of 0.87.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.40%.

Insider Activity 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 stock was sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $286,095.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,888 shares in the company, valued at $5,213,794.56. This trade represents a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $187,375.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com cut Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the 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.