Quantinno Capital Management LP Boosts Holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 74.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,816 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Middleby were worth $1,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Middleby by 41.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Middleby during the fourth quarter worth about $469,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Middleby by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 71,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Middleby in the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Middleby by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,425 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Price Performance

MIDD stock opened at $147.14 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $140.91 and a 200-day moving average of $146.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The Middleby Co. has a 12 month low of $118.41 and a 12 month high of $182.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 1.65.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.14. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company had revenue of $906.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.46 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Middleby’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Edward P. Garden purchased 203,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $139.13 per share, with a total value of $28,251,459.54. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,838,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $394,979,496.12. This represents a 7.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total transaction of $81,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 503,968 shares of company stock worth $73,215,160. 6.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MIDD. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.14.

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.