Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. 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.’s holdings in Mettler-Toledo International were worth $411,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Mettler-Toledo International during the second quarter worth $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 242.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 24 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Mettler-Toledo International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Mettler-Toledo International in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. 95.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Mettler-Toledo International from $1,375.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,351.25.

Mettler-Toledo International Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of MTD stock opened at $1,276.98 on Friday. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,115.64 and a twelve month high of $1,546.93. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,305.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,377.40. The stock has a market cap of $26.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.13.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) last posted its 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 net margin of 21.15% and a negative return on equity of 531.78%. The company had revenue of $954.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.93 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mettler-Toledo International Inc. will post 40.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Gerry Keller sold 140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,254.09, for a total value of $175,572.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,524.54. The trade was a 95.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Elisha W. Finney sold 76 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,820. The trade was a 24.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.