Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) Shares Purchased by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its stake in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD - Free Report) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,169 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Mettler-Toledo International were worth $11,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International during the fourth quarter worth about $372,954,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the fourth quarter worth $163,216,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 214,281 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $262,211,000 after purchasing an additional 74,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $89,221,000. 95.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MTD. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,450.00 to $1,475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,369.00 to $1,034.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $1,400.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,400.00 to $1,125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,304.25.

Insider Activity at Mettler-Toledo International

In other news, insider Christian Magloth sold 790 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 734 shares in the company, valued at $964,248.46. This represents a 51.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gerry Keller sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owns 6 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,108.04. This represents a 99.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mettler-Toledo International Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MTD traded down $8.63 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,056.60. The stock had a trading volume of 36,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 143,557. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. has a one year low of $946.69 and a one year high of $1,546.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1,150.43 and a 200 day moving average of $1,239.91. The company has a market capitalization of $22.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.28.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 591.54% and a net margin of 22.29%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mettler-Toledo International Inc. will post 42.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.