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

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB - Free Report) by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. 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 0.65% of Mesa Laboratories worth $4,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meros Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,456,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 7.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 131,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $11,444,000 after purchasing an additional 8,722 shares during the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 89.3% during the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 16,488 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 7,779 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $596,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $588,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Mesa Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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

Shares of NASDAQ:MLAB traded up $8.23 on Friday, reaching $109.09. 63,431 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,492. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $592.47 million, a PE ratio of -2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company's 50 day moving average is $121.64 and its 200-day moving average is $114.56. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $83.68 and a fifty-two week high of $141.17.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Mesa Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.40%.

Insider Transactions at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total value of $286,095.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,888 shares in the company, valued at $5,213,794.56. This represents a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $187,375.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.