Select Equity Group L.P. Lowers Stock Position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Select Equity Group L.P. cut its holdings in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,289,468 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 271,533 shares during the period. Middleby accounts for approximately 3.4% of Select Equity Group L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Select Equity Group L.P. owned about 11.69% of Middleby worth $851,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MIDD. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Middleby by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 24,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Middleby by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Middleby by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,651 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Middleby by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,167 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Middleby by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,472 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MIDD. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $168.14.

Insider Activity

In other Middleby news, Director Edward P. Garden acquired 249,339 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $149.59 per share, for a total transaction of $37,298,621.01. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,088,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $461,973,262.17. This represents a 8.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 7.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 503,968 shares of company stock valued at $73,215,160. 6.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Middleby Stock Up 1.0%

MIDD stock traded up $1.51 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $146.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 251,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 713,346. The company's fifty day moving average price is $141.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The Middleby Co. has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $182.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20 and a beta of 1.65.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $906.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $941.46 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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.