Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 124,502 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the previous session’s volume of 128,801 shares.The stock last traded at $108.0950 and had previously closed at $107.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings cut Mesa Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mesa Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.04. The stock has a market cap of $592.78 million, a P/E ratio of 88.92 and a beta of 0.94.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.25). Mesa Laboratories had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 20.96%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.21 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.31) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.33%.

Institutional Trading of Mesa Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MLAB. Simcoe Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $12,794,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 2,009.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 114,357 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,664,000 after acquiring an additional 108,936 shares during the period. Roubaix Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $5,137,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 131.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 133,817 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,967,000 after acquiring an additional 76,107 shares during the period. Finally, Mason Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $4,711,000. 90.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Mesa Laboratories

Mesa Laboratories, Inc (NASDAQ: MLAB) is a global provider of instrumentation products designed for critical process monitoring, testing and calibration. Headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado, the company serves a diverse set of end markets including healthcare, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, energy and industrial sectors. With a focus on precision measurement and validation, Mesa Laboratories helps customers ensure regulatory compliance, product safety and operational efficiency across complex manufacturing and sterilization processes.

The company’s product portfolio encompasses biological and chemical indicators for sterilization process validation, digital data loggers and sensors for environmental monitoring, and optical gas analyzers with sample-conditioning solutions for oil, gas and petrochemical applications.