Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Raises Holdings in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB - Free Report) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 5,560 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned 0.51% of Mesa Laboratories worth $3,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,103 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,708 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 357.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,837 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,148,000 after acquiring an additional 6,905 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 124,761 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $16,205,000 after acquiring an additional 5,771 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 90.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,001 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 6,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,444 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MLAB traded down $4.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $141.70. The stock had a trading volume of 24,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,745. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 12 month low of $83.68 and a 12 month high of $155.12. The company has a market capitalization of $769.43 million, a PE ratio of -3.06 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's fifty day moving average is $138.60 and its 200 day moving average is $128.36. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.07 earnings per share (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%. Analysts anticipate that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Mesa Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently -1.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut Mesa Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

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.