Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $155.12 and last traded at $154.76, with a volume of 80352 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $147.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Mesa Laboratories Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $137.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.36. The company has a market cap of $791.95 million, a P/E ratio of -3.15 and a beta of 0.83.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Research analysts expect that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Mesa Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently -1.38%.

Institutional Trading of Mesa Laboratories

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,755 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Berry Wealth Group LP raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 1,657 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 1,588 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 34.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 393 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,394 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 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.