Natixis Has $1.44 Million Stock Position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Natixis increased its stake in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 93.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,593 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,118 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in Middleby were worth $1,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Middleby by 41.1% during the 4th 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. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Middleby during the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Middleby by 16.0% during the fourth 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 raised its stake in Middleby by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 622 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Middleby by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 710 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MIDD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Middleby has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $179.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the business'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 sale, the director now owns 6,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.18% of the company's stock.

Middleby Stock Performance

NASDAQ MIDD opened at $127.44 on Wednesday. The Middleby Co. has a 1 year low of $118.41 and a 1 year high of $182.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 1.44. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $150.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.59.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share 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.

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