HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 96.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 148,088 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Middleby were worth $824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MIDD. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Middleby by 4,494.8% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,238,767 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 371,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,037,000 after buying an additional 112,855 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby in the fourth quarter worth about $11,312,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Middleby during the third quarter worth about $4,486,000. Finally, Regents Gate Capital LLP purchased a new position in Middleby during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,588,000. 98.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MIDD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Middleby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 6,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,209.61. The trade was a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Middleby Stock Up 0.4 %

MIDD stock opened at $157.13 on Friday. The Middleby Co. has a 52 week low of $118.41 and a 52 week high of $182.73. 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 simple moving average of $161.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.67 and a beta of 1.72.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during 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%. Middleby’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast 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.