Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $1.39 Million Stock Position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,269 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,773 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Middleby were worth $1,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,238,767 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new stake in Middleby in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,930,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Middleby by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 371,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,037,000 after purchasing an additional 112,855 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Middleby during the 4th quarter valued at $11,312,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,486,000. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $81,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.16% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Price Performance

NASDAQ:MIDD opened at $152.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The Middleby Co. has a one year low of $118.41 and a one year high of $182.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $161.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.93. The stock has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 1.72.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MIDD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (down from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.86.

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.