Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

by · The Cerbat Gem

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB – Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MLAB. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st.

Get Our Latest Analysis on MLAB

Mesa Laboratories Stock Down 1.6 %

MLAB traded down $1.94 on Thursday, hitting $122.48. 22,146 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 42,023. Mesa Laboratories has a 12 month low of $82.86 and a 12 month high of $141.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $125.94 and its 200-day moving average is $111.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.94. The company has a market cap of $662.49 million, a PE ratio of -2.60 and a beta of 0.85.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $58.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.90 million. Mesa Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 18.95% and a negative net margin of 111.89%. Equities research analysts predict that Mesa Laboratories will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $187,375.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 4.0% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 2,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 35.2% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 741 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 4.5% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,565 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $830,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mesa Laboratories Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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