American Century Companies Inc. Grows Stock Position in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) by 99.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,444 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 4,698 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Mesa Laboratories were worth $1,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 573,037 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $75,566,000 after acquiring an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,677,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 9.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 214,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $27,809,000 after buying an additional 18,128 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 4.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 124,761 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $16,205,000 after buying an additional 5,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 38,359 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,058,000 after acquiring an additional 3,252 shares during the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mesa Laboratories Trading Down 6.0 %

Shares of MLAB stock opened at $109.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $596.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.37 and a beta of 0.92. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. has a 12-month low of $83.68 and a 12-month high of $155.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $130.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.27.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1.38%.

Insider Transactions at Mesa Laboratories

In other Mesa Laboratories news, CEO Gary M. Owens sold 21,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.91, for a total value of $2,602,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,369,887.67. This represents a 32.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Mesa Laboratories Company 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.