Signaturefd LLC Cuts Stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Signaturefd LLC cut its holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 294 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Middleby were worth $41,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Middleby by 10.1% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 73,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,886,000 after purchasing an additional 6,789 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 421.5% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 356,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,356,000 after purchasing an additional 288,314 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Middleby by 278.9% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 6,669 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 18.4% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 56,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,281,000 after acquiring an additional 8,768 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Middleby by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $822,165,000 after buying an additional 15,798 shares during the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Middleby Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MIDD opened at $140.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $137.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.50. The Middleby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.59 and a fifty-two week high of $161.01.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Middleby had a net margin of 9.90% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $991.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $994.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.47 EPS. Middleby’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MIDD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Middleby from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Middleby from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Middleby in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Middleby from $155.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Middleby in a report on Saturday, September 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.17.

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.