Squarepoint Ops LLC Has $13.57 Million Stock Holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Squarepoint Ops LLC reduced its holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,192 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 21,882 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned about 0.19% of Middleby worth $13,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Middleby by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,260,935 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $712,594,000 after buying an additional 21,771 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Middleby by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,895,553 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $256,753,000 after buying an additional 35,449 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Middleby by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,866,359 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $252,798,000 after buying an additional 53,276 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,311,966 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $177,706,000 after purchasing an additional 47,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Middleby by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,247,671 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $169,000,000 after acquiring an additional 150,709 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MIDD. Barclays lifted their price target on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. 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. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $168.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Edward P. Garden purchased 203,058 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $139.13 per share, with a total value of $28,251,459.54. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,838,924 shares in the company, valued at $394,979,496.12. This trade represents a 7.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $81,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This trade represents a 7.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 503,968 shares of company stock valued at $73,215,160 over the last ninety days. 6.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Middleby Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MIDD traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $149.12. The stock had a trading volume of 79,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 713,553. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.35. The Middleby Co. has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $182.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57 and a beta of 1.65.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.14. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company had revenue of $906.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $941.46 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS 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.