Chapin Sarah Palisi Sells 500 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Stock

The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $81,755.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Middleby Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MIDD traded down $3.83 during trading on Monday, reaching $161.58. 533,354 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 844,539. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $153.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.60. The firm has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29 and a beta of 1.64. The Middleby Co. has a 12-month low of $118.41 and a 12-month high of $182.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $996.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middleby

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MIDD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Middleby by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,260,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $712,594,000 after acquiring an additional 21,771 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,895,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $256,753,000 after purchasing an additional 35,449 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Middleby by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,866,359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $252,798,000 after purchasing an additional 53,276 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Middleby by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,311,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $177,706,000 after purchasing an additional 47,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Middleby by 4,494.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,266,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $171,524,000 after buying an additional 1,238,767 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MIDD. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.86.

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.