California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 93,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,131 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Middleby were worth $12,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MIDD. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Middleby by 4,494.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,266,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $171,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,767 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby during the 4th quarter valued at $26,930,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Middleby during the 4th quarter worth $20,189,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 371,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,037,000 after buying an additional 112,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Middleby during the fourth quarter valued at about $11,312,000. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. The trade was a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MIDD. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.86.

Middleby Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD opened at $135.46 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 company has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.54.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. Middleby’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.