SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 3,018 Shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD)

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 209.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,458 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,018 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Middleby were worth $678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MIDD. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Middleby by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 147,109 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $19,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Middleby by 16.0% in 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 period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Middleby by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,651 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Middleby in the 4th quarter valued at $258,000. Finally, ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Middleby in the 4th quarter valued at $1,131,000. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective 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. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $168.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Edward P. Garden purchased 203,058 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $139.13 per share, with a total value of $28,251,459.54. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,838,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $394,979,496.12. The trade was a 7.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have acquired a total of 640,968 shares of company stock worth $93,495,270 in the last 90 days. 6.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Middleby Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:MIDD traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $141.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 874,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 722,007. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.02. The Middleby Corporation has a 1 year low of $118.41 and a 1 year high of $182.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.72.

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

About Middleby

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.