Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Price Target Raised to $120.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $118.00 to $120.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective suggests a potential downside of 14.72% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MIDD. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Middleby from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Middleby from $155.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. William Blair upgraded Middleby to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $159.00 price objective on shares of Middleby in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James assumed coverage on Middleby in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.63.

Middleby Trading Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ:MIDD traded down $3.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $140.72. The stock had a trading volume of 819,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 465,992. Middleby has a one year low of $109.59 and a one year high of $161.01. The company has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $126.47 and a 200 day moving average of $139.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $991.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $994.05 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 9.82%. Middleby’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Middleby will post 9.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 235 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.18, for a total transaction of $32,237.30. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,204.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director John R. Miller III sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.32, for a total transaction of $252,640.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,380,803.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 235 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.18, for a total value of $32,237.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,211 shares in the company, valued at $989,204.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,385 shares of company stock valued at $304,134 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middleby

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MIDD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Middleby by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $822,165,000 after buying an additional 15,798 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Middleby by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,998,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,342,000 after purchasing an additional 20,511 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Middleby by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,450,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $233,182,000 after purchasing an additional 11,552 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its stake in Middleby by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 925,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Middleby by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 713,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,497,000 after purchasing an additional 167,298 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.