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

Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of 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. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 142,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mettler-Toledo International news, insider Gerry Keller sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,351.34, for a total value of $810,804.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,108.04. This trade represents a 99.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mettler-Toledo International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MTD. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the fourth quarter worth about $372,954,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the fourth quarter worth about $163,216,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Mettler-Toledo International by 36.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Mettler-Toledo International by 149,870.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 89,982 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $134,946,000 after acquiring an additional 89,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. 95.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upgraded Mettler-Toledo International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Mettler-Toledo International in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,368.00.

Mettler-Toledo International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTD traded down $23.70 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $1,273.44. 121,069 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 114,468. Mettler-Toledo International has a 52 week low of $1,142.91 and a 52 week high of $1,546.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,284.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,337.41. The company has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.42, a PEG ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 1.13.

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

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.