Legal & General Group Plc Sells 4,799 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 83,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,799 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Middleby were worth $11,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in Middleby in the third quarter worth $223,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Middleby by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 936,596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $130,341,000 after buying an additional 8,926 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Middleby in the 3rd quarter valued at about $639,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Middleby during the third quarter worth approximately $891,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MIDD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 link. 6.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Middleby Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:MIDD opened at $127.48 on Thursday. The Middleby Co. has a 1-year low of $118.41 and a 1-year high of $182.73. 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 firm has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $153.61 and a 200 day moving average of $145.79.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. Middleby’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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.