The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.78% of Middleby worth $712,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Middleby by 4,494.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,266,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $171,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,767 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Middleby by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 936,596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $130,341,000 after purchasing an additional 8,926 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Middleby by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 654,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,671,000 after purchasing an additional 23,577 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 371,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,037,000 after purchasing an additional 112,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 348,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,167,000 after purchasing an additional 3,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of MIDD opened at $152.76 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 1.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $161.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.16. The Middleby Co. has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $182.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $996.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MIDD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Middleby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.86.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In related news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company 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.