Renaissance Technologies LLC Acquires 28,100 Shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. $MLAB

Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 802.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,100 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Mesa Laboratories were worth $2,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MLAB. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 141,973 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,145,000 after buying an additional 18,592 shares during the period. Irenic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $1,962,000. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 60,724 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,767,000 after acquiring an additional 6,750 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the first quarter valued at $4,530,000. Finally, Meros Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Meros Investment Management LP now owns 85,017 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,674,000 after purchasing an additional 8,540 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Mesa Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $94.00.

Insider Activity at Mesa Laboratories

In related news, CFO John Sakys sold 2,827 shares of the business’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 $253,016.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 19,785 shares in the company, valued at $1,770,757.50. The trade was a 12.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Brian David Archbold sold 2,516 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $225,182.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,741.50. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,277 shares of company stock valued at $770,122 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MLAB opened at $102.65 on Monday. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $113.99. The firm has a market cap of $574.84 million, a PE ratio of 85.54 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $100.33 and a 200-day moving average of $95.20.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $63.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.21 million. Mesa Laboratories had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 20.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.31) earnings per share.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.33%.

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.