Ellevest Inc. Trims Holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Ellevest Inc. reduced its stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,302 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 270 shares during the quarter. Ellevest Inc.’s holdings in Middleby were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Middleby by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 24,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 5.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Middleby by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Middleby by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,472 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Middleby Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Middleby stock opened at $139.66 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.35. The Middleby Co. has a 12-month low of $118.41 and a 12-month high of $182.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 1.65.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted 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. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The business had revenue of $906.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $941.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This trade represents a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MIDD. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of 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 lowered their price target on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.14.

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.