Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 25,070 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 32,768 shares.The stock last traded at $137.99 and had previously closed at $144.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Up 3.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $757.39 million, a P/E ratio of -3.01 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $139.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.24. 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 (NASDAQ:MLAB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently -1.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 100.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,389 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,698 shares in the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 44.1% during the third 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. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% during the third 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 21.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 35,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,559,000 after acquiring an additional 6,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 90.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,001 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,818,000 after acquiring an additional 6,643 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

About Mesa Laboratories

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.