Norges Bank Purchases New Position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 149,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,189,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MIDD. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Middleby by 41.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in Middleby by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 622 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Middleby during the third quarter worth $88,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Middleby by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MIDD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.86.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD opened at $135.46 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 1.44. The Middleby Co. has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $182.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.59.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $996.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

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 stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.