Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Stock Price Down 6% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) dropped 6% on Friday . The company traded as low as $106.74 and last traded at $106.4250. 113,276 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 148,052 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MLAB. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $94.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.00.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Down 6.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $594.73 million, a P/E ratio of 126.04 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $100.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.90.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $60.14 million for the quarter. Mesa Laboratories had a return on equity of 22.87% and a net margin of 1.92%.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Lyndsey Elizabeth Crennen sold 442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $39,559.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,790. This represents a 17.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO John Sakys sold 2,827 shares of Mesa Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $253,016.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,770,757.50. The trade was a 12.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,277 shares of company stock worth $770,122. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MLAB. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Mesa Laboratories by 5,366.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 328 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,029 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 432.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 842 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.