AQR Capital Management LLC Has $9.76 Million Holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 21.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,048 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,929 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.13% of Middleby worth $9,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Middleby by 41.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Middleby during the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Middleby by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its stake in Middleby by 220.6% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 606 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Middleby by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 622 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MIDD shares. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $168.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Middleby

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total transaction of $81,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.18% of the company's stock.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of MIDD stock traded up $6.56 during trading on Monday, hitting $146.08. The company had a trading volume of 219,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 703,686. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 1.65. The Middleby Co. has a one year low of $118.41 and a one year high of $182.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $142.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.47.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $906.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.46 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. Middleby's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.