The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Shares Bought by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 121.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,425 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Middleby were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Middleby by 4,494.8% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,238,767 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Middleby by 17.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,138,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $158,469,000 after purchasing an additional 171,634 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Middleby by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 936,596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $130,341,000 after buying an additional 8,926 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Middleby by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 344,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,915,000 after buying an additional 2,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oldfield Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Middleby by 1.5% in the third quarter. Oldfield Partners LLP now owns 332,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,257,000 after buying an additional 4,837 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Stock Performance

MIDD stock opened at $171.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.68 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.57. The Middleby Co. has a 52 week low of $118.41 and a 52 week high of $177.90.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $942.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $996.60 million. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.35 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Middleby Co. will post 9.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MIDD. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (down from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Middleby from $155.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $174.67.

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.