Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 215 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Ballentine Partners LLC lessened its holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 215 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Middleby were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 14,616.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 15,894 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 15,786 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Middleby by 218.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 21,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,214,000 after buying an additional 14,991 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Middleby in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,178,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,696,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,621,000 after acquiring an additional 198,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in Middleby by 481.0% during the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 68,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,066,000 after acquiring an additional 56,627 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MIDD opened at $123.47 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $132.48 and a 200-day moving average of $142.06. The Middleby Co. has a one year low of $109.59 and a one year high of $161.01. The stock has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.16). Middleby had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 15.88%. The business had revenue of $926.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Middleby

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 235 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.18, for a total transaction of $32,237.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,204.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Middleby news, Director John R. Miller III sold 2,000 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.32, for a total transaction of $252,640.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,380,803.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 235 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.18, for a total value of $32,237.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,204.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,385 shares of company stock valued at $304,134. 1.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MIDD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Middleby from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $118.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. William Blair raised shares of Middleby to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Middleby from $166.00 to $159.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Middleby has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.43.

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.