Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 274,563 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,456 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mettler-Toledo International were worth $335,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 14.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 221,799 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $332,634,000 after acquiring an additional 28,478 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Mettler-Toledo International by 878.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,540,000 after buying an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,387,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 105,823 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $129,919,000 after purchasing an additional 24,285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.07% of the company’s stock.

Mettler-Toledo International Trading Down 1.8 %

MTD stock opened at $1,273.44 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 1.13. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. has a 12 month low of $1,142.91 and a 12 month high of $1,546.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,284.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,338.69.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $12.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.76 by $0.65. Mettler-Toledo International had a net margin of 22.29% and a negative return on equity of 564.51%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mettler-Toledo International Inc. will post 41.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,450.00 to $1,475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,550.00 to $1,450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,350.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,362.00 to $1,369.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mettler-Toledo International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,368.00.

Insider Transactions at Mettler-Toledo International

In related news, insider Gerry Keller sold 140 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,254.09, for a total value of $175,572.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6 shares in the company, valued at $7,524.54. This trade represents a 95.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

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.