Stephens Inc. AR Lowers Holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Stephens Inc. AR lowered its position in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Middleby were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Middleby by 4,494.8% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 1,238,767 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Middleby by 17.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,138,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $158,469,000 after purchasing an additional 171,634 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Middleby by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 936,596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,341,000 after buying an additional 8,926 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Middleby by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 344,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,915,000 after buying an additional 2,676 shares during the period. Finally, Oldfield Partners LLP boosted its position in Middleby by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oldfield Partners LLP now owns 332,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,257,000 after acquiring an additional 4,837 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Middleby Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:MIDD opened at $168.33 on Monday. 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 Middleby Co. has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $177.90. The company has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22 and a beta of 1.64. The company’s 50 day moving average is $147.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MIDD. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Middleby from $155.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.83.

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.