Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Sells 4,346 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC decreased its position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 38,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,346 shares during the quarter. Middleby comprises 0.6% of Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Middleby were worth $5,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MIDD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Middleby by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,260,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $712,594,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Middleby by 4,494.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Middleby by 2.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Middleby by 1.0% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Middleby in the 4th quarter worth about $91,869,000. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MIDD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price target (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Middleby currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.86.

Middleby Trading Down 4.7 %

NASDAQ MIDD opened at $135.46 on Monday. The Middleby Co. has a 52 week low of $118.41 and a 52 week high of $182.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $161.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 1.44.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $996.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly 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 Transactions at Middleby

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $81,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This trade represents a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.16% of the company’s stock.

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.