Balefire LLC Makes New $1.67 Million Investment in The Middleby Corporation $MIDD

Balefire LLC purchased a new position in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 12,588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 12.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 14,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 8,194 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,251,000 after buying an additional 740 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in Middleby by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 18,868 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,868,000 after buying an additional 1,504 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Middleby by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 503,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $76,453,000 after purchasing an additional 10,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 59.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,029,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $460,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,931 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Middleby Stock Down 2.0%

NASDAQ:MIDD opened at $144.25 on Thursday. The Middleby Corporation has a 52-week low of $110.82 and a 52-week high of $182.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.52. The company has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of -32.78 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $982.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.21 million. Middleby had a negative net margin of 5.22% and a positive return on equity of 14.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.33 earnings per share. Middleby has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.990-9.140 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.190-2.340 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MIDD. Wolfe Research set a $163.00 target price on shares of Middleby and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Middleby in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Middleby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Middleby from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Barclays set a $168.00 price target on shares of Middleby and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Middleby

In other news, Director Robert A. Nerbonne bought 780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $128.52 per share, with a total value of $100,245.60. Following the acquisition, the director owned 21,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,759,452.92. This trade represents a 3.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 6.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.