Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $2.24 Million Position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,525 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,238,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Middleby by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 18,029 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,442,000 after purchasing an additional 6,174 shares during the last quarter. ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Middleby in the fourth quarter worth $1,131,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Middleby in the fourth quarter worth $258,000. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Middleby by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 24,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in Middleby by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 9,364 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $180.86.

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Middleby Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD traded up $2.80 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $160.87. 608,242 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 586,679. The Middleby Co. has a 12-month low of $118.41 and a 12-month high of $182.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $155.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.29. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19 and a beta of 1.72.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $996.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. Middleby's quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $81,755.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Middleby

The Middleby Corporation designs, markets, manufactures, distributes, and services foodservice, food processing, and residential kitchen equipment worldwide. Its Commercial Foodservice Equipment Group segment offers conveyor, combi, convection, baking, proofing, deck, speed cooking, and hydrovection ovens; ranges, fryers, and rethermalizers; steam cooking, food warming, catering, induction cooking, and countertop cooking equipment; heated cabinets, charbroilers, ventless cooking systems, kitchen ventilation, toasters, griddles, charcoal grills, professional mixers, stainless steel fabrication, custom millwork, professional refrigerators, blast chillers, cold rooms, ice machines, and freezers; soft serve ice cream, coffee and beverage dispensing, home and professional craft brewing equipment; and fry dispensers, bottle filling and canning equipment, IoT solutions, and controls development and manufacturing.