Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $29.35 Million Stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 618,670 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,769 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.21% of Cheesecake Factory worth $29,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,364,000 after acquiring an additional 22,416 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.2% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,074 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the third quarter valued at approximately $395,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,353,000 after purchasing an additional 99,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $973,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total value of $5,308,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction of $1,553,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $47.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.63 and its 200-day moving average is $46.96. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a one year low of $33.05 and a one year high of $57.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CAKE. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.19.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated operates and licenses restaurants in the United States and Canada. The company operates bakeries that produce cheesecakes and other baked products for its restaurants, international licensees, third-party bakery customers, external foodservice operators, retailers, and distributors.