Sterling Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 56.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Middleby were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Middleby by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,260,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $712,594,000 after acquiring an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake 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 worth $171,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,767 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Middleby by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 985,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $133,430,000 after purchasing an additional 23,478 shares during the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $91,869,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Middleby by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 654,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,671,000 after purchasing an additional 23,577 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total transaction of $81,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,209.61. The trade was a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MIDD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Middleby presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.43.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of MIDD stock opened at $126.91 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $152.09 and its 200 day moving average is $145.63. The Middleby Co. has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company 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 posted $2.65 EPS. Middleby’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS 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.