Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $1,110.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier's stock, down from their prior price target of $1,200.00. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 2.78% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on MTD. Evercore ISI increased their price target on 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. Citigroup raised 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 report on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,369.00 to $1,034.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,400.00 to $1,125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,296.13.

Mettler-Toledo International Trading Down 2.0 %

Mettler-Toledo International stock traded down $21.67 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $1,079.96. The stock had a trading volume of 133,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 146,802. Mettler-Toledo International has a one year low of $946.69 and a one year high of $1,546.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40. The firm's 50 day moving average is $1,118.64 and its 200 day moving average is $1,223.63.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $8.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.90 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $883.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $876.61 million. Mettler-Toledo International had a negative return on equity of 591.54% and a net margin of 22.29%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mettler-Toledo International will post 42.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christian Magloth sold 790 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,313.69, for a total transaction of $1,037,815.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $964,248.46. The trade was a 51.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Gerry Keller sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,351.34, for a total transaction of $810,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,108.04. The trade was 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 owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mettler-Toledo International

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTD. Barclays PLC raised its position in Mettler-Toledo International by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 256,602 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $384,822,000 after purchasing an additional 19,609 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the third quarter valued at about $111,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 14.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 221,799 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $332,634,000 after acquiring an additional 28,478 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Mettler-Toledo International by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 294 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Mettler-Toledo International by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 105,823 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $129,919,000 after purchasing an additional 24,285 shares during the period. 95.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.