Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,218,550 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 42,385 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.73% of Middleby worth $793,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 116.7% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 169 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Middleby by 760.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 258 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its position in Middleby by 220.6% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 606 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Middleby by 60.3% during the first 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Middleby by 44.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 901 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MIDD has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Middleby to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Middleby from $186.00 to $162.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Middleby from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $159.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Edward P. Garden purchased 137,000 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $148.03 per share, with a total value of $20,280,110.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,276,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $485,069,737.02. This represents a 4.36% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Middleby Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of MIDD traded down $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $132.61. The stock had a trading volume of 740,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,222,244. The Middleby Corporation has a 1 year low of $118.09 and a 1 year high of $182.73. The firm has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The stock's 50 day moving average is $142.74 and its 200 day moving average is $147.28.

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

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.