Boston Partners Decreases Position in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Boston Partners lessened its holdings in shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 419,755 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,916 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.78% of Middleby worth $63,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 66,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,152,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby during the 1st quarter valued at $158,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 14,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Middleby in the 1st quarter worth $29,733,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Middleby by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In other Middleby news, Director Edward P. Garden bought 137,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $148.03 per share, for a total transaction of $20,280,110.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,276,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,069,737.02. The trade was a 4.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Middleby Stock Performance

NASDAQ MIDD opened at $134.23 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08 and a beta of 1.58. The Middleby Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.09 and a fifty-two week high of $182.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.57.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.15. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 11.06%. The firm had revenue of $977.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $979.59 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Middleby from $145.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Middleby from $186.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on Middleby from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.00.

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.