Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC Cuts Holdings in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 37.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,617 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 23,458 shares during the quarter. Middleby comprises about 1.4% of Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC owned 0.07% of Middleby worth $6,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Middleby in the 4th quarter worth approximately $258,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 18,029 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,442,000 after acquiring an additional 6,174 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Middleby during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,238,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in Middleby by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 3,248 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MIDD shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $168.14.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of MIDD traded down $0.88 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $144.06. 570,929 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 730,326. The business's 50-day moving average price is $142.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.10. The company has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The Middleby Corporation 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. Middleby had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The business had revenue of $906.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.46 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Middleby

In related news, Director Edward P. Garden bought 249,339 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $149.59 per share, with a total value of $37,298,621.01. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,088,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $461,973,262.17. This trade represents a 8.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 company insiders.

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.