Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (MTD): Hedge Funds Are Bullish and Insiders Are Bearish, What Should You Do?

Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. MTD investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund sentiment in recent months. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with MTD positions at the end of the previous quarter.

To the average investor, there are dozens of gauges investors can use to watch stocks. A duo of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can beat the market by a superb amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. There are a variety of stimuli for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if you understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a peek at the latest action surrounding Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD).

Hedge fund activity in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD)

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 44% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the most valuable position in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD). Royce & Associates has a $35.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is LMR Partners, managed by Ben Levine, Andrew Manuel and Stefan Renold, which held a $16.5 million position; 3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

As aggregate interest increased, key money managers have jumped into Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) headfirst. Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, established the largest position in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD). Columbus Circle Investors had 12.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also initiated a $2.8 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new MTD investors: Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD). These stocks are Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:LIFE), PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE:PKI), Covance Inc. (NYSE:CVD), Quest Diagnostics Inc (NYSE:DGX), and Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH). This group of stocks are in the medical laboratories & research industry and their market caps are similar to MTD’s market cap.

With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) is an important part of this process.

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