Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 31 Shares of Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD)

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 343 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mettler-Toledo International were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MTD. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the second quarter valued at approximately $500,000. Czech National Bank grew its position in Mettler-Toledo International by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 4,322 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,482,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 299 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in Mettler-Toledo International by 6.5% during the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 245 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 12.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 254 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MTD. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,375.00 to $1,310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded Mettler-Toledo International from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $1,375.00 to $1,450.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup upgraded Mettler-Toledo International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Mettler-Toledo International in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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 note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,351.25.

Mettler-Toledo International Stock Performance

MTD opened at $1,342.36 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $28.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.45, a PEG ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 1.13. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,133.46 and a fifty-two week high of $1,546.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,267.00 and a 200 day moving average of $1,343.14.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Mettler-Toledo International

In related news, insider Gerry Keller sold 140 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,254.09, for a total value of $175,572.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,524.54. This trade represents a 95.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Elisha W. Finney sold 76 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,311.75, for a total value of $99,693.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 240 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

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.