The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) CTO Sells $183,350.00 in Stock

The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) CTO James K. Pool III sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.68, for a total value of $183,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 36,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,340,325.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of MIDD stock opened at $146.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $145.20 and a 200 day moving average of $143.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 1.55. The Middleby Co. has a 52 week low of $122.33 and a 52 week high of $162.02.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.15. Middleby had a net margin of 11.14% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. Middleby’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middleby

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,242,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in Middleby by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 27,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,073,000 after buying an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Middleby by 8.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,155,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $170,745,000 after buying an additional 90,405 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department boosted its holdings in Middleby by 41.1% in the second quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 20,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,988,000 after acquiring an additional 5,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby in the second quarter worth $374,000. 96.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MIDD has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark cut their target price on Middleby from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Middleby in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Middleby from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Middleby from $170.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Middleby currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.00.

About Middleby

The Middleby Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, 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, and IoT solutions.