Davis R M Inc. Sells 1,132 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Davis R M Inc. trimmed its position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 46.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,132 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Middleby were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Middleby by 533.7% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 483,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $71,115,000 after buying an additional 406,958 shares during the last quarter. Oldfield Partners LLP bought a new position in Middleby during the fourth quarter worth $51,736,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Middleby by 177.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 546,320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,843,000 after buying an additional 349,546 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Middleby by 78.6% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 494,461 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,770,000 after buying an additional 217,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Middleby during the fourth quarter worth $16,199,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MIDD. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Middleby in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. William Blair raised shares of Middleby to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Middleby from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Middleby from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $145.00 to $118.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Middleby from $166.00 to $159.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.57.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In related news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 235 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $989,204.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 235 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.18, for a total value of $32,237.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,211 shares in the company, valued at $989,204.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Miller III sold 2,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,380,803.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,385 shares of company stock worth $304,134. 1.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Middleby Trading Down 0.5 %

Middleby stock traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $129.38. The stock had a trading volume of 232,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 433,024. The stock has a market cap of $6.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.88 and a beta of 1.61. The Middleby Co. has a 52 week low of $109.59 and a 52 week high of $161.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.42.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.16). Middleby had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 15.88%. The company had revenue of $926.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal 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.