MetLife Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,313 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,531 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Middleby worth $4,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Middleby by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby during the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised 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. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Middleby by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 622 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Middleby by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 710 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Middleby

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of Middleby 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. The trade was a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MIDD has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $179.43.

Middleby Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Middleby stock traded up $1.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $134.48. The stock had a trading volume of 200,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 685,519. The Middleby Co. has a 12-month low of $118.41 and a 12-month high of $182.73. The firm has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.53 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $145.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $996.69 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current 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.