Renaissance Technologies LLC Reduces Position in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 85.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,400 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 13,700 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Mesa Laboratories were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MLAB. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $605,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 66.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,044 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 29,719 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,261,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 4.5% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,565 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 2.5% in the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 194,330 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $21,324,000 after purchasing an additional 4,801 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mesa Laboratories news, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $187,375.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company.

Mesa Laboratories Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of MLAB opened at $126.18 on Friday. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.86 and a 1 year high of $141.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.10. The stock has a market cap of $682.51 million, a PE ratio of -2.68 and a beta of 0.85.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.55. Mesa Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 18.95% and a negative net margin of 111.89%. The business had revenue of $58.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1.36%.

Mesa Laboratories Profile

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.