Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,351.25.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upgraded Mettler-Toledo International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,550.00 to $1,450.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $1,375.00 to $1,450.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,400.00 to $1,350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,375.00 to $1,310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th.

Mettler-Toledo International Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Mettler-Toledo International stock opened at $1,270.91 on Wednesday. Mettler-Toledo International has a 12-month low of $1,133.46 and a 12-month high of $1,546.93. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,246.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,345.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.12.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $10.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.00 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $954.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.93 million. Mettler-Toledo International had a negative return on equity of 531.78% and a net margin of 21.15%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mettler-Toledo International will post 40.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Elisha W. Finney sold 76 shares of Mettler-Toledo International stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,311.75, for a total value of $99,693.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 240 shares in the company, valued at $314,820. This trade represents a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Gerry Keller sold 140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,254.09, for a total transaction of $175,572.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,524.54. This trade represents a 95.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mettler-Toledo International

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 13.3% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 68 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Mettler-Toledo International by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 122 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Suncoast Equity Management boosted its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 460 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 1.2% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 757 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 20.0% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 54 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. 95.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mettler-Toledo International Company Profile

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.