Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) saw a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 288,000 shares, a growth of 50.9% from the November 15th total of 190,800 shares. Currently, 5.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 38,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.5 days.
MLAB opened at $318.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 342.56 and a beta of 0.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $312.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.48. Mesa Laboratories has a one year low of $232.88 and a one year high of $331.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 10.71 and a current ratio of 11.13.
Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $35.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.95 million. Mesa Laboratories had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 3.56%. As a group, analysts predict that Mesa Laboratories will post 6.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 30th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.82%.
In other Mesa Laboratories news, CFO John Sakys sold 1,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.74, for a total transaction of $570,892.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.02, for a total value of $539,208.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,477 shares of company stock worth $4,843,871 over the last quarter. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 0.8% in the second quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 26,990 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,319,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,446,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 37.2% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 4,322 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 6.8% in the second quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 694 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 20.6% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $842,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.55% of the company’s stock.
Several brokerages have weighed in on MLAB. Zacks Investment Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. TheStreet raised Mesa Laboratories from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 4th.
About Mesa Laboratories
Mesa Laboratories, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and market of instruments and disposable products utilized in healthcare, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, medical device, and petrochemical industries. It operates through the following segments: Sterilization and Disinfection Control, Instruments, Continuous Monitoring, and Biopharmaceutical Development.