The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Stock Holdings Increased by Ariel Investments LLC

Ariel Investments LLC raised its position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,198,179 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 72,031 shares during the period. Middleby makes up approximately 1.7% of Ariel Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Ariel Investments LLC owned 2.23% of Middleby worth $162,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MIDD. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Middleby by 4,494.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,266,327 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $171,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,767 shares during the period. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Middleby during the fourth quarter worth $91,869,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new stake in Middleby during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,930,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Middleby by 13.7% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Middleby during the fourth quarter worth about $20,189,000. 98.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MIDD. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $168.14.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total transaction of $81,755.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Middleby Trading Up 3.3 %

NASDAQ MIDD traded up $4.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $135.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 467,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 698,670. The Middleby Co. has a 52-week low of $118.41 and a 52-week high of $182.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $142.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.32.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company had revenue of $906.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.46 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current 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.