Ameriprise Financial Inc. Raises Holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 237.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 366,293 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 257,669 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.68% of Middleby worth $49,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Middleby by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 24,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,651 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Middleby by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,167 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in Middleby by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,472 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. The trade was a 7.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Edward P. Garden purchased 203,058 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $139.13 per share, for a total transaction of $28,251,459.54. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,838,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $394,979,496.12. This trade represents a 7.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $168.14.

Middleby Stock Performance

NASDAQ MIDD traded down $1.19 on Wednesday, reaching $148.72. 942,864 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 715,023. The Middleby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $118.41 and a fifty-two week high of $182.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81. The firm has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $141.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.56.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $906.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $941.46 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. Middleby's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS 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.