752,737 Shares in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Bought by Garden Investment Management L.P.

Garden Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 752,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $101,958,000. Middleby comprises approximately 100.0% of Garden Investment Management L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Garden Investment Management L.P. owned 1.40% of Middleby as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 41.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Middleby in the fourth quarter valued at about $71,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Middleby by 220.6% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 606 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Middleby by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 622 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MIDD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $168.14.

Middleby Stock Up 0.5%

MIDD traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $147.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 69,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 707,493. The Middleby Co. has a 1 year low of $118.41 and a 1 year high of $182.73. The stock's 50-day moving average is $141.74 and its 200-day moving average is $145.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.14. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company had revenue of $906.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.46 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $81,755.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares in the company, valued at $999,209.61. This trade represents a 7.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 6.18% of the company's stock.

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.