StockNews.com Lowers Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Separately, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $1,233.25.

Mettler-Toledo International Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:MTD opened at $1,192.56 on Thursday. Mettler-Toledo International has a twelve month low of $928.49 and a twelve month high of $1,601.66. The company has a market capitalization of $25.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,269.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,170.18.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $9.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.32 by ($0.92). The company had revenue of $934.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $959.45 million. Mettler-Toledo International had a net margin of 20.82% and a negative return on equity of 904.59%. Mettler-Toledo International’s quarterly revenue was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $12.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mettler-Toledo International will post 39.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mettler-Toledo International news, Director Elisha W. Finney sold 251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,177.35, for a total transaction of $295,514.85. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,042.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Mettler-Toledo International news, Director Elisha W. Finney sold 251 shares of Mettler-Toledo International stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,177.35, for a total transaction of $295,514.85. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,042.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Shawn Vadala sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,210.83, for a total transaction of $363,249.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,950,018.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 951 shares of company stock valued at $1,170,256. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTD. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in Mettler-Toledo International by 100.0% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 20 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 162.5% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 21 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International during the first quarter worth $37,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.07% of the company’s stock.

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.