Forum Financial Management LP Invests $348,000 in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,567 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Middleby during the 4th quarter valued at $71,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Middleby by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its position 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 worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in Middleby by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 710 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Middleby by 286.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 762 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $168.14.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In other news, Director Edward P. Garden bought 203,058 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $139.13 per share, for a total transaction of $28,251,459.54. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,838,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at $394,979,496.12. The trade was a 7.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total transaction of $81,755.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 640,968 shares of company stock worth $93,495,270. Company insiders own 6.18% of the company's stock.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of Middleby stock traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $146.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 527,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 716,642. 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 one year low of $118.41 and a one year high of $182.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $139.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.53. The stock has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 1.65.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $906.63 million for 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current year.

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.