Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Stock Jumps 6.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) shares were up 6.6% during trading on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $150.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Mesa Laboratories traded as high as $137.76 and last traded at $136.2590. 52,669 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 140,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $127.82.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Mesa Laboratories from $94.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Mesa Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mesa Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 110.0% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 523 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Mesa Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in Mesa Laboratories by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 4,318 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $91,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Mesa Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $87,000. 90.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Up 1.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $782.36 million, a PE ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.79.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $60.14 million during the quarter. Mesa Laboratories had a net margin of 2.65% and a return on equity of 22.77%.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 30th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.14%.

About Mesa Laboratories

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. develops and manufactures instruments and consumable products used to monitor and control quality in life sciences and other regulated industries. Its offerings support activities such as sterilization and disinfection monitoring, laboratory testing, biopharmaceutical development, and equipment calibration. The company’s products include biological and chemical indicators, data loggers, calibration instruments, and tools used in clinical genomics and bioprocessing. Customers use these products to help verify processes, measure conditions, and meet quality requirements.