The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Shares Sold by Olstein Capital Management L.P.

Olstein Capital Management L.P. decreased its position in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 45.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 32,500 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. owned 0.07% of Middleby worth $5,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IMC Chicago LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby during the first quarter worth $4,069,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Middleby by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 638 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Middleby in the first quarter valued at about $2,283,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 0.6% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 148,004 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $22,494,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 21,915.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 136,934 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,811,000 after purchasing an additional 136,312 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Middleby news, Director Edward P. Garden bought 137,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $148.03 per share, with a total value of $20,280,110.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,276,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,069,737.02. This trade represents a 4.36% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 640,968 shares of company stock worth $93,495,270. 6.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MIDD has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target 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. 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, Middleby presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $168.14.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of MIDD stock traded down $2.83 on Thursday, reaching $143.88. 712,812 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 722,934. The Middleby Co. has a 1 year low of $118.41 and a 1 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $139.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.03. The company has a market cap of $7.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85 and a beta of 1.61.

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

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.