Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 6,292 Shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB - Free Report) by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 6,292 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.65% of Mesa Laboratories worth $4,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MLAB. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Mesa Laboratories by 34.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 393 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $70,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $183,000. Finally, Berry Wealth Group LP purchased a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Institutional investors own 90.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 SEC, which is available through this link. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MLAB shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mesa Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

MLAB traded up $6.38 on Friday, hitting $138.35. 27,811 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,356. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $121.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.52. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $83.68 and a one year high of $141.17. The firm has a market cap of $751.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.04 and a beta of 0.86.

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.