California Public Employees Retirement System Has $12.68 Million Holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,131 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.17% of Middleby worth $12,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MIDD. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Middleby by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 2,425 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Middleby during the 4th quarter worth approximately $469,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Middleby in the 4th quarter worth approximately $219,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Middleby by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 22,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,106,000 after purchasing an additional 2,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Middleby by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 71,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,617,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MIDD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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, January 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Middleby

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the firm’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 owns 6,111 shares in the company, valued at $999,209.61. This trade represents a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.16% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of MIDD opened at $135.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 1.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $161.13 and its 200 day moving average is $146.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The Middleby Co. has a 12-month low of $118.41 and a 12-month high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $996.69 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middleby 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.