Fmr LLC Buys 100 Shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)

Fmr LLC raised its stake in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 34.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Mesa Laboratories were worth $51,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 1,588 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 4.0% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 2,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $70,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 5,040 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $5,213,794.56. This trade represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MLAB shares. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Mesa Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Down 3.1 %

Mesa Laboratories stock opened at $131.25 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $120.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $712.82 million, a P/E ratio of -2.88 and a beta of 0.86. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a twelve month low of $83.68 and a twelve month high of $141.17.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1.40%.

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.