Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Makes New $91.87 Million Investment in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 678,250 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $91,869,000. Middleby makes up 1.8% of Clarkston Capital Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC owned about 1.26% of Middleby as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Middleby by 41.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 622 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Middleby in the 3rd quarter valued at about $88,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Middleby by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 710 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MIDD. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $179.43.

Middleby Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ MIDD traded down $0.21 on Friday, hitting $131.38. 770,457 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 655,780. The company's 50-day moving average price is $156.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.12. The company has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 1.44. The Middleby Co. has a 52-week low of $118.41 and a 52-week high of $182.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $996.69 million. The company's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of Middleby 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 owns 6,111 shares in the company, valued at $999,209.61. The trade was a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.