Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $11.31 Million Investment in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 83,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,312,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $171,524,000 after buying an additional 1,238,767 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Middleby by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,138,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $158,469,000 after acquiring an additional 171,634 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Middleby in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,928,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Middleby in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,486,000. Finally, Regents Gate Capital LLP bought a new stake in shares of Middleby during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,588,000. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.16% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD opened at $153.93 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $159.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.07. 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 quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81. The company has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.23 and a beta of 1.72.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $996.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MIDD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.86.

Middleby Company 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.