Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) Position Increased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,359 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,252 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.71% of Mesa Laboratories worth $5,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 34.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 1,588 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, Berry Wealth Group LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 1,657 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Mesa Laboratories Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MLAB opened at $135.44 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $139.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.46. The company has a market cap of $735.98 million, a PE ratio of -2.93 and a beta of 0.83. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $83.68 and a fifty-two week high of $155.12.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.66. Mesa Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 30.23% and a negative net margin of 104.92%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 8 earnings per share for the current year.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.38%.

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.