Sterling Capital Management LLC Purchases 1,153 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 56.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Middleby were worth $431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MIDD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Middleby by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,260,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $712,594,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in 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 worth $171,524,000 after buying an additional 1,238,767 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Middleby by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 985,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $133,430,000 after buying an additional 23,478 shares during the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Middleby during the 4th quarter valued at $91,869,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Middleby by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 654,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,671,000 after acquiring an additional 23,577 shares during the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MIDD shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.43.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MIDD opened at $126.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $152.09 and a 200 day moving average of $145.63. 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 stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 1.44. The Middleby Co. has a 12 month low of $118.41 and a 12 month high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $996.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now owns 6,111 shares in the company, valued at $999,209.61. This trade represents a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.