The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes Position in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,037 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 1,588 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 2,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Mesa Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 13.4% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 5,040 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 5.9% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,261 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $977,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MLAB shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 2,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $286,095.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,213,794.56. This represents a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mesa Laboratories Trading Up 4.5 %

MLAB opened at $133.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $723.74 million, a P/E ratio of -2.92 and a beta of 0.86. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a one year low of $83.68 and a one year high of $141.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $119.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.35.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.40%.

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.