ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 8,353 The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 8,353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,131,000. Middleby accounts for 1.0% of ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Middleby in the 4th quarter valued at about $258,000. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Middleby by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 24,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management grew its holdings in Middleby by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 9,364 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,268,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MIDD shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Middleby from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.83.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of MIDD opened at $167.07 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $150.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.51. The Middleby Co. has a 52-week low of $118.41 and a 52-week high of $177.90. The firm has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Middleby Company 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.