Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 625 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Middleby were worth $756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MIDD. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 218.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 21,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,214,000 after purchasing an additional 14,991 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,696,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,621,000 after purchasing an additional 198,859 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 54.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,910,000 after purchasing an additional 13,493 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 56,712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,259,000 after purchasing an additional 12,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 5,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MIDD shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target 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. TheStreet raised shares of Middleby from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.38.

Insider Transactions at Middleby

In other news, Director Cathy L. Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.12, for a total transaction of $153,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,519.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $151.47, for a total value of $53,014.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $955,169.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Cathy L. Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.12, for a total transaction of $153,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,220,519.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Middleby Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:MIDD opened at $139.99 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89 and a beta of 1.58. The Middleby Co. has a 52 week low of $109.59 and a 52 week high of $161.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $149.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $140.15.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.57 EPS. Middleby’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 10.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.