Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Acquires 18,912 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. raised its stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 40.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,972 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,912 shares during the quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Middleby worth $8,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Middleby by 4,494.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,266,327 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $171,524,000 after buying an additional 1,238,767 shares during the period. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Middleby during the fourth quarter worth $91,869,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new position in shares of Middleby in the fourth quarter valued at $26,930,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Middleby by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,247,671 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $169,000,000 after purchasing an additional 150,709 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby during the 4th quarter worth about $20,189,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Middleby

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MIDD has been the topic of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $179.43.

Middleby Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MIDD traded up $4.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $138.57. 1,057,006 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 693,210. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 1.44. The Middleby Co. has a 52-week low of $118.41 and a 52-week high of $182.73. The business's fifty day moving average is $144.64 and its 200-day moving average is $145.47.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current 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.