Amalgamated Bank Cuts Position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,373 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Middleby were worth $5,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Middleby by 13.3% in the fourth 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. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Middleby by 426.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 220,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,190,000 after acquiring an additional 178,393 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 38.1% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 489,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,566,000 after buying an additional 134,978 shares during the last quarter. Fernbridge Capital Management LP raised its position in Middleby by 93.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fernbridge Capital Management LP now owns 198,839 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,451,000 after buying an additional 96,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Middleby during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,871,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Stock Up 1.3 %

MIDD opened at $141.83 on Wednesday. The Middleby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.59 and a fifty-two week high of $161.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14 and a beta of 1.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $149.50 and its 200 day moving average is $140.33.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.21. Middleby had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.99%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. Middleby’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 10.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.47, for a total value of $53,014.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $955,169.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.47, for a total transaction of $53,014.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $955,169.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cathy L. Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.12, for a total value of $153,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,519.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MIDD. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Middleby from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Middleby from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.38.

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.