The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Holdings Cut by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,678 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,247 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Middleby were worth $1,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Middleby by 4,494.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,266,327 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $171,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,767 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Middleby by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,138,999 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $158,469,000 after purchasing an additional 171,634 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 275.2% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 185,885 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $25,862,000 after purchasing an additional 136,345 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Middleby during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,928,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Middleby in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,486,000. 98.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MIDD has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $160.00 price target (down from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Middleby from $155.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Middleby has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $174.67.

Middleby Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MIDD traded down $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $171.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 779,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 808,409. The Middleby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $118.41 and a fifty-two week high of $177.90. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $142.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.90. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61 and a beta of 1.61.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $942.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.60 million. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.12 EPS for the current year.

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.