Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 407,600 shares, an increase of 15.2% from the January 15th total of 353,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 142,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 2.0% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Gerry Keller sold 600 shares of Mettler-Toledo International stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,351.34, for a total value of $810,804.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,108.04. The trade was a 99.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 2,300.0% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 144 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 2.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,761 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $4,141,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 1.2% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 757 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 7.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 2,233 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $3,349,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 4.1% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $757,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MTD. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Mettler-Toledo International in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,362.00 to $1,369.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mettler-Toledo International presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,368.00.

Mettler-Toledo International Stock Performance

Shares of MTD traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $1,302.24. 141,332 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 137,840. The stock's fifty day moving average is $1,284.88 and its 200 day moving average is $1,334.32. The stock has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.13. Mettler-Toledo International has a 1-year low of $1,142.91 and a 1-year high of $1,546.93.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $12.41 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 research analysts predict that Mettler-Toledo International will post 42.71 EPS for the current year.

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.