Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP reduced its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 347,145 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 47,356 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 6.42% of Mesa Laboratories worth $45,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 373,397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $40,973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,119 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 22,108 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,871,000 after acquiring an additional 6,766 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,565 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $830,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 80,739 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,006,000 after acquiring an additional 6,283 shares during the period. 90.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of Mesa Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total value of $286,095.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,213,794.56. The trade was a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of Mesa Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $187,375.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

MLAB opened at $104.60 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $123.52 and its 200-day moving average is $114.88. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 52-week low of $83.68 and a 52-week high of $141.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently -1.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MLAB shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st.

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.