Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $155.12 and last traded at $154.76, with a volume of 80352 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $147.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.71. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $135.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.57.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.66. Mesa Laboratories had a negative net margin of 104.92% and a positive return on equity of 30.23%. As a group, analysts forecast that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 7.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,512,000. Amundi grew its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 81.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $32,677,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Mesa Laboratories by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,844 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,394 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

About Mesa Laboratories

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.