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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Mettler-Toledo International

In other news, insider Gerry Keller sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,108.04. The trade was a 99.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 242.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 24 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 272.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 41 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 95.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MTD shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,362.00 to $1,369.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Mettler-Toledo International in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,450.00 to $1,475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,368.00.

Mettler-Toledo International Stock Down 1.8 %

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

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $12.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 564.51%. As a group, research analysts predict that Mettler-Toledo International will post 41.94 earnings per share 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.