Two Sigma Advisers LP Invests $298,000 in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,199 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Middleby during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Middleby by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Middleby by 220.6% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 606 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Middleby by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 710 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Middleby by 286.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 762 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Middleby Stock Performance

Middleby stock traded down $1.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $148.83. 442,484 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 722,258. 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 Middleby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $118.41 and a fifty-two week high of $182.73. The company has a market capitalization of $7.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53 and a beta of 1.61. The firm's fifty day moving average is $139.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.03.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.14. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $906.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $941.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In other news, Director Edward P. Garden acquired 203,058 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $139.13 per share, for a total transaction of $28,251,459.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,838,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $394,979,496.12. The trade was a 7.70% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 640,968 shares of company stock worth $93,495,270. 6.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MIDD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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. Wall Street Zen cut Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Middleby currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $168.14.

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.