Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its holdings in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD - Free Report) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 282,383 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 13,867 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 1.34% of Mettler-Toledo International worth $411,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 242.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 24 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.07% of the company's stock.

Mettler-Toledo International Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MTD traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1,276.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 118,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 135,506. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,115.64 and a twelve month high of $1,546.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,305.85 and a 200 day moving average of $1,377.40.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mettler-Toledo International news, Director Elisha W. Finney sold 76 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 240 shares of the company's stock, valued at $314,820. This trade represents a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gerry Keller sold 140 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $7,524.54. The trade was a 95.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MTD. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,400.00 to $1,350.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,375.00 to $1,310.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Mettler-Toledo International in a research note on Friday. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,550.00 to $1,450.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,351.25.

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.