Nomura Holdings Inc. Makes New Investment in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 442 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTD. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Mettler-Toledo International by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 933,989 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,132,891,000 after buying an additional 27,386 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Mettler-Toledo International by 1.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 279,146 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $309,313,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 9.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 267,167 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $296,041,000 after purchasing an additional 23,305 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the 4th quarter valued at $320,847,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 65.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 241,219 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $292,589,000 after buying an additional 95,421 shares during the period. 95.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MTD shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Mettler-Toledo International from $975.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,212.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,270.00 to $1,510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mettler-Toledo International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,256.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Shawn Vadala sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,528.43, for a total value of $458,529.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,510,705.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas P. Salice sold 1,268 shares of Mettler-Toledo International stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,490.18, for a total value of $1,889,548.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $363,603.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Shawn Vadala sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,528.43, for a total value of $458,529.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,914 shares in the company, valued at $7,510,705.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,278 shares of company stock worth $4,871,849. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mettler-Toledo International Trading Up 0.5 %

MTD opened at $1,463.48 on Friday. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. has a twelve month low of $928.49 and a twelve month high of $1,535.86. The firm has a market cap of $31.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.04, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,378.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,280.74.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $8.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.61 by $1.28. The business had revenue of $925.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $879.72 million. Mettler-Toledo International had a negative return on equity of 662.32% and a net margin of 20.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Mettler-Toledo International Inc. will post 40.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Mettler-Toledo International

Mettler-Toledo International Inc manufactures and supplies precision instruments and services in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through five segments: U.S. Operations, Swiss Operations, Western European Operations, Chinese Operations, and Other. The company's laboratory instruments include laboratory balances, liquid pipetting solutions, automated laboratory reactors, real-time analytics, titrators, pH meters, process analytics sensors and analyzer technologies, physical value analyzers, density and refractometry, thermal analysis systems, and other analytical instruments; and LabX, a laboratory software platform to manage and analyze data generated from its instruments.Its industrial instruments comprise industrial weighing instruments and related terminals, automatic dimensional measurement and data capture solutions, vehicle scale systems, industrial software, metal detection equipment, x-ray systems, check weighing equipment, camera-based imaging equipment, track-and-trace solutions, and product inspection systems.