The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Stock Holdings Boosted by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,269 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,773 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Middleby were worth $1,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Middleby by 41.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Middleby by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 622 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Middleby during the 3rd quarter worth $88,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Middleby by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Barclays boosted their target price on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Middleby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.86.

Middleby Trading Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ:MIDD opened at $152.76 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.93. 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 market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 1.72. The Middleby Co. has a 1-year low of $118.41 and a 1-year high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) 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. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,111 shares in the company, valued at $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.16% of the company’s stock.

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.