Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,375.00 to $1,390.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Mettler-Toledo International from $975.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,270.00 to $1,510.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,150.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, 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 report on Monday, May 13th. Two research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mettler-Toledo International has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $1,301.25.

Mettler-Toledo International Stock Up 2.6 %

MTD stock opened at $1,358.18 on Thursday. Mettler-Toledo International has a 52 week low of $928.49 and a 52 week high of $1,535.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,418.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,301.79.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $7.61 by $1.28. Mettler-Toledo International had a net margin of 20.55% and a negative return on equity of 662.32%. The firm had revenue of $925.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $879.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mettler-Toledo International will post 40.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Mettler-Toledo International

In related news, CFO Shawn Vadala sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,457.07, for a total transaction of $437,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,160,041.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Shawn Vadala sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,457.07, for a total transaction of $437,121.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,160,041.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas P. Salice sold 1,268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $363,603.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,278 shares of company stock valued at $4,871,849 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mettler-Toledo International

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 169.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 573,702 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $763,764,000 after buying an additional 360,786 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International during the 4th quarter worth about $320,847,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 15.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,075,420 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,431,696,000 after purchasing an additional 141,431 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 65.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 241,219 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $292,589,000 after purchasing an additional 95,421 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Mettler-Toledo International by 109,458.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 67,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $82,392,000 after buying an additional 67,864 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.07% 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.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.