Wolfe Research Initiates Coverage on Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD)

Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) in a report issued on Friday morning. The firm issued a peer perform rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

MTD has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,375.00 to $1,310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,400.00 to $1,350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup raised Mettler-Toledo International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,375.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,550.00 to $1,450.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,351.25.

Mettler-Toledo International Stock Performance

Shares of MTD stock opened at $1,276.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.13. Mettler-Toledo International has a 52-week low of $1,115.64 and a 52-week high of $1,546.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,305.85 and its 200 day moving average is $1,376.41.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $10.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.00 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $954.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $941.93 million. Mettler-Toledo International had a negative return on equity of 531.78% and a net margin of 21.15%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mettler-Toledo International will post 40.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Mettler-Toledo International

In other Mettler-Toledo International news, Director Elisha W. Finney sold 76 shares of Mettler-Toledo International stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,311.75, for a total transaction of $99,693.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,820. The trade was a 24.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Gerry Keller sold 140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 6 shares in the company, valued at $7,524.54. This trade represents a 95.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mettler-Toledo International

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MTD. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Mettler-Toledo International in the second quarter worth $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 242.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 24 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Mettler-Toledo International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the second quarter worth about $42,000. 95.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.