Brokerages Set The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) Target Price at $168.14

The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $168.14.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MIDD. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In other Middleby news, Director Edward P. Garden purchased 249,339 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $149.59 per share, with a total value of $37,298,621.01. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,088,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $461,973,262.17. This trade represents a 8.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 640,968 shares of company stock valued at $93,495,270. Corporate insiders own 6.18% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Middleby

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Middleby by 116.7% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 169 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Middleby by 760.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 258 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Middleby by 90.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 432 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Middleby during the fourth quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Middleby by 220.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Middleby Price Performance

MIDD stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $148.70. The stock had a trading volume of 841,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 736,599. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.73. Middleby has a twelve month low of $118.83 and a twelve month high of $182.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.57. The company's 50-day moving average price is $144.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.41.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $906.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $941.46 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 11.26%. Middleby's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Middleby will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal 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.