Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,799 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.15% of Middleby worth $11,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Middleby by 4,494.8% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 1,238,767 shares in the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Middleby during the fourth quarter valued at about $91,869,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new position in shares of Middleby in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,930,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Middleby in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,189,000. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Middleby by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 371,854 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $50,037,000 after purchasing an additional 112,855 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total transaction of $81,755.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $179.43.

Middleby Trading Up 2.8 %

MIDD traded up $3.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $127.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,038,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 677,770. The business's 50-day moving average is $150.48 and its 200-day moving average is $145.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 1.44. The Middleby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $118.41 and a fifty-two week high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 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 up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.