The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) Shares Sold by Vulcan Value Partners LLC

Vulcan Value Partners LLC cut its holdings in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 64.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 52,829 shares during the quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Middleby worth $4,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Middleby by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,398 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby during the fourth quarter worth about $20,189,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Middleby by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $971,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Middleby during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Middleby by 157.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 15,866 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 9,713 shares during the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Edward P. Garden acquired 137,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $148.03 per share, for a total transaction of $20,280,110.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,276,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,069,737.02. The trade was a 4.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased 640,968 shares of company stock valued at $93,495,270 over the last ninety days. 6.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Middleby Price Performance

NASDAQ MIDD opened at $145.20 on Friday. The Middleby Corporation has a 12 month low of $121.70 and a 12 month high of $182.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $906.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.46 million. Middleby had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MIDD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on Middleby from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.00.

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.