Norges Bank Buys Shares of 149,053 The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 149,053 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $20,189,000. Norges Bank owned 0.28% of Middleby at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position 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 worth $171,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,767 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new position in shares of Middleby in the 4th quarter valued at $26,930,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 112,855 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,312,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Middleby in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,486,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on MIDD shares. Barclays upped their price target on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $160.00 price target (down from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird upped 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, January 28th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Middleby currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $179.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Middleby

In related news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total transaction of $81,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $999,209.61. The trade was a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.16% of the company's stock.

Middleby Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:MIDD traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $132.19. 1,316,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 659,170. The company has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company's 50 day moving average is $155.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.07. The Middleby Co. has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.