State of Michigan Retirement System Purchases 300 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Middleby were worth $2,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MIDD. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Middleby by 54.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,910,000 after buying an additional 13,493 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Middleby by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 5,862 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Middleby by 44.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 80,922 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,358,000 after purchasing an additional 24,830 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Middleby by 426.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 220,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,190,000 after purchasing an additional 178,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Middleby by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 3,508 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MIDD shares. William Blair raised shares of Middleby to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Middleby from $166.00 to $159.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Middleby from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $118.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on Middleby in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Middleby presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $153.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John R. Miller III sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.32, for a total transaction of $252,640.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,380,803.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director John R. Miller III sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.32, for a total transaction of $252,640.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,380,803.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 235 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.18, for a total transaction of $32,237.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,204.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,385 shares of company stock worth $304,134. Company insiders own 1.17% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MIDD stock opened at $121.25 on Friday. The Middleby Co. has a twelve month low of $109.59 and a twelve month high of $161.01. The stock has a market cap of $6.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $129.57 and a 200 day moving average of $141.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.16). Middleby had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 15.88%. The firm had revenue of $926.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $979.05 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.19 earnings per share. Middleby’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.77 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.