Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Shares Down 4.8% - Should You Sell?

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB - Get Free Report) shares fell 4.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $141.01 and last traded at $137.84. 2,368 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 29,716 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $762.75 million, a P/E ratio of -3.08 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $128.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.65.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.14). Mesa Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 28.52% and a negative net margin of 107.56%. The firm had revenue of $57.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.60 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Mesa Laboratories's payout ratio is currently -1.40%.

Insider Transactions at Mesa Laboratories

In other news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $286,095.16. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 573,037 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $75,566,000 after buying an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Meros Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,456,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 214,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $27,809,000 after acquiring an additional 18,128 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 38.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 62,609 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $8,130,000 after purchasing an additional 17,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 10.9% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 165,955 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $19,722,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares during the period. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.