Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) Stock Price

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Citigroup from $1,450.00 to $1,400.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the medical instruments supplier's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MTD. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,350.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Mettler-Toledo International in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,362.00 to $1,369.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,550.00 to $1,450.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,450.00 to $1,475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,380.50.

Mettler-Toledo International Price Performance

Mettler-Toledo International stock traded up $17.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $1,258.53. The company had a trading volume of 140,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 139,093. Mettler-Toledo International has a 1 year low of $1,142.91 and a 1 year high of $1,546.93. The company has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.13. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1,292.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,326.21.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $12.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $11.76 by $0.65. Mettler-Toledo International had a net margin of 22.29% and a negative return on equity of 591.54%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mettler-Toledo International will post 42.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Gerry Keller sold 600 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,108.04. This represents a 99.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christian Magloth sold 790 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,313.69, for a total transaction of $1,037,815.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $964,248.46. This trade represents a 51.84 % 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mettler-Toledo International

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 29,136 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $43,695,000 after purchasing an additional 9,306 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 34,039 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $51,048,000 after purchasing an additional 2,521 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 18,545 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $27,812,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 382 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.07% 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.