Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Share Price Crosses Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $91.93 and traded as low as $71.86. Mesa Laboratories shares last traded at $71.95, with a volume of 72,436 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MLAB shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Zacks Research raised Mesa Laboratories from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Mesa Laboratories from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $395.73 million, a PE ratio of -513.93 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.62 and a 200-day moving average of $91.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently -457.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its position in Mesa Laboratories by 439.0% in the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 73,897 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $8,769,000 after buying an additional 60,186 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $2,370,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $2,305,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 14,805.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 18,036 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,140,000 after acquiring an additional 17,915 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 6.5% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 264,013 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $31,328,000 after purchasing an additional 16,218 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.