The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Shares Acquired by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Middleby were worth $2,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MIDD. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Middleby by 4,494.8% in the fourth 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 during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Middleby by 17.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,138,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $158,469,000 after acquiring an additional 171,634 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby in the third quarter worth $10,928,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby in the third quarter worth $4,486,000. Finally, Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby in the fourth quarter worth $3,588,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MIDD. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird increased 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. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.86.

Middleby Stock Performance

MIDD opened at $157.32 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70 and a beta of 1.72. The Middleby Co. has a 52-week low of $118.41 and a 52-week high of $182.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.45.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. The business 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 company’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Middleby

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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.