Edward P. Garden Purchases 37,473 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Stock

The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Director Edward P. Garden purchased 37,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $148.40 per share, with a total value of $5,560,993.20. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,125,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $463,859,222.40. The trade was a 1.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Middleby Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Middleby stock opened at $151.49 on Monday. The Middleby Co. has a 1 year low of $118.41 and a 1 year high of $182.73. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.89.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $906.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $941.46 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. Middleby’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Middleby

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 116.7% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 169 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Middleby by 760.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Middleby by 41.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Middleby by 90.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Middleby in the 4th quarter worth about $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MIDD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.14.

Middleby Company 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.