Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $2.22 Million Position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 15,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,222,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 29.5% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 334 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 414 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 9,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 2,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD opened at $141.27 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The Middleby Co. has a 12 month low of $109.59 and a 12 month high of $161.01. The business’s 50 day moving average is $151.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.42.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Middleby had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 9.93%. Middleby’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 10.32 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MIDD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet raised Middleby from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Middleby from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Middleby from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Middleby presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Cathy L. Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.12, for a total transaction of $153,120.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,971 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,519.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Cathy L. Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.12, for a total value of $153,120.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,220,519.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.47, for a total value of $53,014.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $955,169.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.