Trexquant Investment LP Sells 11,999 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Trexquant Investment LP lessened its position in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,457 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 11,999 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.05% of Middleby worth $3,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Middleby by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 24,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,323,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Middleby by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Middleby by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,651 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Middleby by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,167 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Middleby by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,472 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MIDD. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $179.43.

Middleby Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $132.19. 1,316,512 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 659,163. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.07. The stock has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23 and a beta of 1.44. The Middleby Co. has a 1-year low of $118.41 and a 1-year high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $996.69 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.