Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) Short Interest Down 15.6% in February

Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 344,200 shares, a decline of 15.6% from the January 31st total of 407,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 131,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Mettler-Toledo International Price Performance

Mettler-Toledo International stock traded up $15.68 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,256.65. 44,708 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 136,767. The firm has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,291.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,326.68. Mettler-Toledo International has a 1 year low of $1,142.91 and a 1 year high of $1,546.93.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $12.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 591.54%. As a group, analysts predict that Mettler-Toledo International will post 42.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mettler-Toledo International

In related news, insider Christian Magloth sold 790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,313.69, for a total value of $1,037,815.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,248.46. The trade was a 51.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gerry Keller sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,351.34, for a total transaction of $810,804.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6 shares in the company, valued at $8,108.04. The trade was a 99.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mettler-Toledo International

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 954,653 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,431,693,000 after purchasing an additional 9,009 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Mettler-Toledo International by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 583,181 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $713,627,000 after buying an additional 52,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 558,471 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $682,340,000 after buying an additional 11,032 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 455,739 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $557,680,000 after buying an additional 25,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 363,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $444,327,000 after acquiring an additional 96,300 shares during the period. 95.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,450.00 to $1,475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,450.00 to $1,400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,362.00 to $1,369.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,350.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Mettler-Toledo International in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,380.50.

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.