Fifth Third Bancorp Trims Stake in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its holdings in shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 15.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,759 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,919 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Middleby were worth $1,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garden Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby during the 4th quarter valued at $101,958,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Middleby in the fourth quarter valued at $91,869,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Middleby by 237.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 366,293 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $49,614,000 after purchasing an additional 257,669 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new stake in Middleby during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,930,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Middleby by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,247,671 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $169,000,000 after purchasing an additional 150,709 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Middleby Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of Middleby stock traded down $3.08 on Tuesday, hitting $140.93. The stock had a trading volume of 705,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 723,766. 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 one year low of $118.41 and a one year high of $182.73. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $140.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $147.08. The stock has a market cap of $7.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 1.61.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $906.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.46 million. Middleby had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The company's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Middleby presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $168.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Middleby

In other Middleby news, Director Edward P. Garden bought 137,000 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $148.03 per share, with a total value of $20,280,110.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,276,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $485,069,737.02. This represents a 4.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders acquired 640,968 shares of company stock valued at $93,495,270 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.18% of the company's stock.

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.