Impax Asset Management Group plc Sells 37,793 Shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lessened its holdings in shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 22.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 132,496 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 37,793 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned about 0.25% of Middleby worth $20,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Middleby by 286.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 762 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Middleby by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 348,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $47,167,000 after buying an additional 3,832 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Middleby in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,238,000. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Middleby by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,592 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,112,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Middleby in the fourth quarter valued at $11,312,000. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Edward P. Garden bought 137,000 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $148.03 per share, for a total transaction of $20,280,110.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,276,834 shares in the company, valued at $485,069,737.02. This trade represents a 4.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 640,968 shares of company stock worth $93,495,270. Corporate insiders own 6.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MIDD shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $168.14.

Middleby Stock Down 0.3%

MIDD traded down $0.47 on Friday, reaching $148.70. 841,440 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 736,599. The company has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $144.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.32. The Middleby Corporation has a 52-week low of $118.83 and a 52-week high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.14. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 11.26%. The company had revenue of $906.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 EPS 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.