Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,260,935 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.78% of Middleby worth $712,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MIDD. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Middleby by 41.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Middleby by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Middleby by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 622 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Middleby during the third quarter worth about $88,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Middleby by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 710 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MIDD. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Middleby presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $180.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Middleby

In related news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This trade represents a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.16% of the company's stock.

Middleby Stock Performance

NASDAQ MIDD traded down $6.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $135.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 75,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 619,697. 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 company has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 1.72. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $161.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $146.49. The Middleby Co. has a 12 month low of $118.41 and a 12 month high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $996.69 million. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. 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 earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Middleby Company 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.