Headlands Technologies LLC Invests $592,000 in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in The Middleby Corporation, purchasing 3,893 shares valued at approximately $592,000 during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Middleby, with notable increases from TCTC Holdings LLC (116.7%) and Versant Capital Management Inc (760.0%) in the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on Middleby, with target price reductions from JPMorgan and Robert W. Baird, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $159.00.

Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,893 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $592,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MIDD. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Middleby by 116.7% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 169 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Middleby by 760.0% in 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 during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Middleby by 220.6% in the 4th 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 during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Middleby by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 638 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Middleby by 44.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 901 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MIDD. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Middleby from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $125.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Middleby from $186.00 to $162.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $159.00.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD traded up $5.43 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $135.74. 667,426 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 913,238. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.57. The company has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28 and a beta of 1.58. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $143.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.04. The Middleby Corporation has a 1-year low of $118.09 and a 1-year high of $182.73.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Edward P. Garden bought 137,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $148.03 per share, for a total transaction of $20,280,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,276,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $485,069,737.02. This represents a 4.36% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have purchased a total of 151,098 shares of company stock valued at $22,384,197 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.18% of the company's stock.

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.