Fiera Capital Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. (NYSE:MTD)

Key Points

• Fiera Capital Corp reduced its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 17.7%, now holding 288,097 shares after selling 61,768 shares.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC and Farther Finance Advisors LLC, significantly increased their positions in Mettler-Toledo during the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Mettler-Toledo, with a consensus hold rating and a target price of $1,298.50, while UBS Group recently downgraded its price objective to $1,350.00.

Fiera Capital Corp lowered its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. (NYSE:MTD - Free Report) by 17.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 288,097 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 61,768 shares during the period. Mettler-Toledo International accounts for approximately 1.2% of Fiera Capital Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Fiera Capital Corp owned 1.38% of Mettler-Toledo International worth $340,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 583.3% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 41 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 520.0% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 62 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 39.1% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.07% of the company's stock.

Mettler-Toledo International Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of Mettler-Toledo International stock traded down $41.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $1,191.84. 214,781 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 176,081. The stock's fifty day moving average is $1,191.95 and its 200 day moving average is $1,194.36. The firm has a market cap of $24.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.37. Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $946.69 and a 1 year high of $1,521.01.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $10.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.58 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $983.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $957.41 million. Mettler-Toledo International had a net margin of 22.17% and a negative return on equity of 556.22%. Mettler-Toledo International's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. will post 42.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mettler-Toledo International news, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 1,062 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,159.93, for a total value of $1,231,845.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 120 shares in the company, valued at $139,191.60. This trade represents a 89.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MTD. Citigroup raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $1,400.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays began coverage on Mettler-Toledo International in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $1,325.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised Mettler-Toledo International from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $1,200.00 to $1,110.00 in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,139.00 to $1,210.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,125.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,298.50.

Mettler-Toledo International 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.