Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Purchases 1,785 Shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,665 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,785 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Middleby were worth $2,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Middleby by 760.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 258 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby during the fourth quarter worth $71,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Middleby by 16.0% in the fourth 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. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Middleby by 220.6% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 606 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Middleby by 60.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 638 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Middleby news, Director Edward P. Garden bought 249,339 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $149.59 per share, for a total transaction of $37,298,621.01. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,088,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at $461,973,262.17. This trade represents a 8.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders bought 640,968 shares of company stock worth $93,495,270. 6.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Middleby Stock Up 0.6%

Middleby stock opened at $144.75 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $141.98 and a 200-day moving average of $147.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The Middleby Corporation has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $182.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09 and a beta of 1.61.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MIDD. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp reduced their price target 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $168.14.

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.

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