Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,233.25.

Mettler-Toledo International Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE MTD opened at $1,188.54 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.15. Mettler-Toledo International has a twelve month low of $928.49 and a twelve month high of $1,577.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,269.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,170.88.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) last issued its quarterly 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). Mettler-Toledo International had a negative return on equity of 904.59% and a net margin of 20.82%. The business had revenue of $934.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $12.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Mettler-Toledo International will post 39.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Mettler-Toledo International

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mettler-Toledo International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,534,104 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,479,806,000 after purchasing an additional 17,826 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 933,989 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,132,891,000 after purchasing an additional 27,386 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 500,127 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $763,880,000 after purchasing an additional 2,842 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 488,953 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $641,330,000 after purchasing an additional 25,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 326,105 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $471,369,000 after purchasing an additional 67,758 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.