Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 407,600 shares, a growth of 15.2% from the January 15th total of 353,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 142,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,350.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Mettler-Toledo International in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on 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 lowered their target price on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,550.00 to $1,450.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,368.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mettler-Toledo International news, insider Gerry Keller sold 140 shares of Mettler-Toledo International stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,254.09, for a total transaction of $175,572.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,524.54. The trade was a 95.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mettler-Toledo International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTD. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $372,954,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $163,216,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 96,300 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mettler-Toledo International by 149,870.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 89,982 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $134,946,000 after purchasing an additional 89,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Mettler-Toledo International by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 214,281 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $262,211,000 after purchasing an additional 74,187 shares during the last quarter. 95.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mettler-Toledo International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTD traded down $23.70 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $1,273.44. The stock had a trading volume of 121,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 114,468. The company has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1,284.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,337.41. Mettler-Toledo International has a 52 week low of $1,142.91 and a 52 week high of $1,546.93.

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

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.