National Bank of Canada FI Buys 93,793 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 276.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 127,747 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 93,793 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.24% of Middleby worth $17,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MIDD. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Middleby by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,260,935 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $712,594,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,238,767 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 985,090 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $133,430,000 after acquiring an additional 23,478 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Middleby by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 936,596 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $130,341,000 after acquiring an additional 8,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Middleby by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 654,641 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $88,671,000 after acquiring an additional 23,577 shares during the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Middleby Trading Up 14.7 %

MIDD traded up $18.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $143.55. 2,582,924 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 648,140. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $157.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.21. The Middleby Co. has a 52-week low of $118.41 and a 52-week high of $182.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MIDD has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $160.00 target price (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $179.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Middleby 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 value of $81,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.16% of the company's stock.

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.