XTX Topco Ltd Boosts Holdings in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd significantly increased its stake in The Middleby Corporation by 498.1%, acquiring an additional 8,492 shares during the first quarter, now owning a total of 10,197 shares valued at approximately $1,550,000.
• Middleby Corporation's stock has dropped 2.4%, trading at $141.73, with analysts predicting a 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year after reporting earnings of $2.08 EPS, exceeding expectations.
• Several analysts have downgraded their price targets for Middleby, with Barclays reducing it from $180.00 to $165.00, indicating a broader trend of cautious sentiment within the investment community.

XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 498.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,197 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,492 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Middleby were worth $1,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Garden Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Middleby during the 4th quarter worth $101,958,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Middleby during the 4th quarter worth $91,869,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Middleby by 237.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 366,293 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $49,614,000 after buying an additional 257,669 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position 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 worth $169,000,000 after buying an additional 150,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Middleby during the 4th quarter worth $20,189,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Middleby news, Director Edward P. Garden purchased 137,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were purchased 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 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 the SEC website. Insiders have purchased 640,968 shares of company stock valued at $93,495,270 over the last 90 days. 6.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Middleby Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Middleby stock traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $142.10. 185,899 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 861,319. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The Middleby Corporation has a twelve month low of $121.70 and a twelve month high of $182.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78 and a beta of 1.58.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $941.46 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MIDD shares. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays cut 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $166.00.

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.