KBC Group NV Sells 200,721 Shares of The Middleby Corporation $MIDD

KBC Group NV cut its stake in shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 99.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 200,721 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Middleby were worth $196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MIDD. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Middleby by 59.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,029,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $460,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,931 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Middleby by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,319,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $200,577,000 after purchasing an additional 7,791 shares in the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Middleby by 1.5% in the first quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 688,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,647,000 after purchasing an additional 10,310 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Middleby by 32.5% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 578,496 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,920,000 after buying an additional 141,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Middleby by 2.2% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 503,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,453,000 after buying an additional 10,780 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MIDD opened at $113.60 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $130.40 and its 200 day moving average is $138.18. The Middleby Corporation has a 52 week low of $112.61 and a 52 week high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.34. Middleby had a net margin of 11.06% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The business had revenue of $982.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $961.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Middleby has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.990-9.140 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 2.190-2.340 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MIDD shares. Wolfe Research set a $163.00 target price on Middleby and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Middleby from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays set a $168.00 target price on shares of Middleby and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Middleby in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Middleby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.57.

Middleby 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.