Avity Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD)

Avity Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD - Free Report) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,146 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 213 shares during the quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Mettler-Toledo International were worth $6,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 38,717 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $47,377,000 after acquiring an additional 6,387 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 719 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 503 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Mettler-Toledo International in the fourth quarter valued at $404,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group raised its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 227 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 95.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mettler-Toledo International Stock Performance

Mettler-Toledo International stock traded up $7.62 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,278.98. 193,938 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 125,604. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $1,246.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,345.43. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. has a 12-month low of $1,133.46 and a 12-month high of $1,546.93. The stock has a market cap of $26.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.12.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $10.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.00 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $954.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.93 million. Mettler-Toledo International had a negative return on equity of 531.78% and a net margin of 21.15%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mettler-Toledo International Inc. will post 40.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MTD shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Mettler-Toledo International from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $1,375.00 to $1,450.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Mettler-Toledo International in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,550.00 to $1,450.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,400.00 to $1,350.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $1,351.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Gerry Keller sold 140 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,254.09, for a total transaction of $175,572.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6 shares in the company, valued at $7,524.54. The trade was a 95.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Elisha W. Finney sold 76 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,311.75, for a total transaction of $99,693.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 240 shares of the company's stock, valued at $314,820. This represents a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.94% of the company's stock.

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.