Congress Asset Management Co. Boosts Stake in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD)

Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 667 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Mettler-Toledo International were worth $788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Mettler-Toledo International by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 41 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the fourth quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the fourth quarter valued at $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 1,062 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,159.93, for a total value of $1,231,845.66. Following the transaction, the director now owns 120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $139,191.60. This represents a 89.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,450.00 to $1,475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group upgraded Mettler-Toledo International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $1,530.00 to $1,350.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mettler-Toledo International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup upgraded Mettler-Toledo International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,400.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,369.00 to $1,034.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,302.11.

Mettler-Toledo International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTD opened at $1,183.88 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,092.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,205.15. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. has a 1-year low of $946.69 and a 1-year high of $1,546.93. The company has a market cap of $24.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.38.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) last issued 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. Mettler-Toledo International had a negative return on equity of 591.54% and a net margin of 22.29%. The company had revenue of $883.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $876.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.89 EPS. Mettler-Toledo International’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mettler-Toledo International Inc. will post 42.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mettler-Toledo International 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.