Mesa Laboratories, Inc. $MLAB Shares Bought by Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 59.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,467 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,723 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 1.49% of Mesa Laboratories worth $5,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Herald Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Herald Investment Management Ltd now owns 50,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,340,000 after buying an additional 37,500 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 218.0% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 123,381 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $8,268,000 after acquiring an additional 84,582 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 114.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 53,974 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,617,000 after acquiring an additional 28,818 shares during the period. Roubaix Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $5,137,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $452,000. 90.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MLAB. Zacks Research raised shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mesa Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $94.00.

Mesa Laboratories Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of MLAB opened at $77.96 on Monday. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.45 and a 52-week high of $131.20. The stock has a market cap of $430.34 million, a PE ratio of 121.81 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $87.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $65.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.23 million. Mesa Laboratories had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 22.02%. Research analysts forecast that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 28th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, Director R Tony Tripeny bought 1,315 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $76.00 per share, with a total value of $99,940.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $410,248. This trade represents a 32.21% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Shiraz Shabanali Ladiwala bought 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $72.23 per share, for a total transaction of $252,805.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 8,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $615,616.29. The trade was a 69.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 6,116 shares of company stock worth $452,076. Insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

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.