The Middleby Corporation $MIDD Shares Sold by Select Equity Group L.P.

Key Points

• Select Equity Group L.P. reduced its stake in The Middleby Corporation (MIDD) by 12.3%, now holding 5.5 million shares, which represent about 3.6% of its total portfolio.
• Middleby reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.35 for the last quarter, outperforming analysts' expectations of $2.20, despite a 1.4% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company's stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with an average rating of "Hold" and a target price of $161.13 following upgrades and downgrades from several firms.

Select Equity Group L.P. reduced its holdings in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 12.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,514,063 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 775,405 shares during the quarter. Middleby makes up 3.6% of Select Equity Group L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Select Equity Group L.P. owned approximately 10.28% of Middleby worth $838,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MIDD. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Middleby in the 4th quarter worth about $206,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Middleby by 237.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 366,293 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $49,614,000 after acquiring an additional 257,669 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Middleby by 228.1% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 19,878 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,692,000 after acquiring an additional 13,820 shares during the last quarter. Garden Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Middleby during the fourth quarter worth about $101,958,000. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new position in shares of Middleby during the fourth quarter worth about $470,000. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Middleby Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of Middleby stock traded down $3.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $135.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 143,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 902,570. The Middleby Corporation has a 1-year low of $118.09 and a 1-year high of $182.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.31.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MIDD. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Wolfe Research set a $163.00 price objective on shares of Middleby and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $125.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Middleby from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Middleby currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $161.13.

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.