Trexquant Investment LP Has $3.72 Million Stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Trexquant Investment LP reduced its holdings in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,999 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.05% of Middleby worth $3,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MIDD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Middleby by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,260,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $712,594,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 4,494.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Middleby by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 985,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,430,000 after buying an additional 23,478 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 654,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,671,000 after acquiring an additional 23,577 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In related news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total transaction of $81,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MIDD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.86.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of Middleby stock opened at $135.46 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 1.44. 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 Middleby Co. has a 52 week low of $118.41 and a 52 week high of $182.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $161.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.59.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $996.69 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.