South Dakota Investment Council Grows Stock Holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 548 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Middleby were worth $2,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Duality Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Middleby by 224.9% during the 4th quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 24,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,643,000 after purchasing an additional 17,133 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Middleby by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 8,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Middleby by 80.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 510 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Middleby by 230.1% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Middleby during the 4th quarter valued at $2,222,000. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Middleby Stock Performance

NASDAQ MIDD opened at $144.69 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.06. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53 and a beta of 1.56.

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

Insider Transactions at Middleby

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MIDD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Middleby from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Middleby from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.38.

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.