Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Stock Position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 4,494.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,266,327 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,238,767 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 2.35% of Middleby worth $171,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Middleby by 11,853.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 967,365 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $118,609,000 after acquiring an additional 959,272 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its holdings in Middleby by 15.4% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 6,360,288 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $779,835,000 after purchasing an additional 846,884 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Middleby by 43.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 903,346 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $110,768,000 after purchasing an additional 274,513 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Middleby by 58.0% during the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 510,127 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $62,547,000 after purchasing an additional 187,304 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Middleby by 275.2% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 185,885 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $25,862,000 after purchasing an additional 136,345 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Middleby Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of MIDD stock traded up $1.61 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $140.91. The company had a trading volume of 545,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 570,295. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.01. The Middleby Co. has a 12 month low of $118.41 and a 12 month high of $161.01. The company has a market cap of $7.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.48 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $942.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $996.60 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. Middleby's revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MIDD. StockNews.com raised Middleby from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Middleby in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $160.00 target price (down from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.67.

Middleby Profile

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.