Lafayette Investments Inc. Cuts Holdings in Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. (NYSE:MTD)

Lafayette Investments Inc. decreased its stake in Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. (NYSE:MTD - Free Report) by 55.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 321 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 405 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.'s holdings in Mettler-Toledo International were worth $379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 39.1% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 29.4% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 489 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 45,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $55,990,000 after purchasing an additional 3,105 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 12,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $15,418,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 7.1% in the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 34,610 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $40,871,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Mettler-Toledo International in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $1,325.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Mettler-Toledo International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,369.00 to $1,034.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,125.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Mettler-Toledo International from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $1,400.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,300.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mettler-Toledo International news, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 1,062 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,159.93, for a total transaction of $1,231,845.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $139,191.60. This trade represents a 89.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Mettler-Toledo International Price Performance

Shares of MTD traded down $8.98 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $1,175.56. 119,236 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 150,423. The business's 50-day moving average price is $1,133.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,197.21. Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $914.26 and a twelve month high of $1,546.93. The company has a market capitalization of $24.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.32, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.38.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $8.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.90 by $0.29. Mettler-Toledo International had a negative return on equity of 556.22% and a net margin of 22.17%. The company had revenue of $883.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $876.61 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.89 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. will post 42.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.