16,412 Shares in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Bought by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 16,412 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,283,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Middleby by 760.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 258 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Middleby in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Middleby by 16.0% during the 4th 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 period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Middleby by 220.6% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 606 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Middleby by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 638 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MIDD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $168.14.

Middleby Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of MIDD traded down $1.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $142.28. The stock had a trading volume of 179,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 721,407. The firm has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 1.61. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.01. The Middleby Co. has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $182.73.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Edward P. Garden bought 137,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $148.03 per share, for a total transaction of $20,280,110.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,276,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,069,737.02. This trade represents a 4.36% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 640,968 shares of company stock worth $93,495,270. Corporate insiders own 6.18% of the company's stock.

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.