Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average - Here's Why

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $127.81 and traded as high as $146.66. Mesa Laboratories shares last traded at $144.96, with a volume of 17,464 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $769.43 million, a P/E ratio of -3.06 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm's fifty day moving average is $138.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.61.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.66. Mesa Laboratories had a negative net margin of 104.92% and a positive return on equity of 30.23%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently -1.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MLAB. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,677,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 191.8% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 151,862 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $20,026,000 after purchasing an additional 99,819 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 573,037 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $75,566,000 after purchasing an additional 43,927 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 1,390.4% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 34,399 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $4,536,000 after purchasing an additional 32,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,512,000. Institutional investors own 90.60% of the company's stock.

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.