2,111 Shares in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Bought by EntryPoint Capital LLC

EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 2,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Middleby by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 2,425 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Middleby during the fourth quarter worth approximately $469,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby in the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 22,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,106,000 after purchasing an additional 2,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Middleby by 3.6% in the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Middleby

In related news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $81,755.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price target (down from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price target on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.86.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of MIDD stock opened at $157.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $161.07 and a 200 day moving average of $145.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.67 and a beta of 1.72. The Middleby Co. has a 52 week low of $118.41 and a 52 week high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Middleby Profile

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.