Analysts Set Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) Target Price at $1,223.71

Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,223.71.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MTD. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and set a $975.00 price objective (down previously from $1,050.00) on shares of Mettler-Toledo International in a research report on Monday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut Mettler-Toledo International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 23rd.

Mettler-Toledo International Trading Up 1.6 %

MTD stock opened at $1,335.84 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,241.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,150.67. Mettler-Toledo International has a 12 month low of $928.49 and a 12 month high of $1,615.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.15.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $9.40 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $959.45 million. Mettler-Toledo International had a net margin of 20.82% and a negative return on equity of 904.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $12.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mettler-Toledo International will post 39.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Elisha W. Finney sold 251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,042.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Mettler-Toledo International news, CFO Shawn Vadala sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,950,018.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elisha W. Finney sold 251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,177.35, for a total value of $295,514.85. Following the sale, the director now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,042.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 951 shares of company stock valued at $1,170,256 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mettler-Toledo International

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the 4th quarter valued at about $536,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the 4th quarter valued at about $275,000. Walden Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the 4th quarter valued at about $303,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 120,531 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $146,199,000 after buying an additional 13,495 shares during the period. 95.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.