Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,443,458 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 21,096 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.67% of Cheesecake Factory worth $258,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,114,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 166.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,076,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $51,062,000 after buying an additional 673,076 shares in the last quarter. Ruffer LLP bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,401,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,363,051 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $64,663,000 after buying an additional 186,026 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at $3,408,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $45.68 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.28, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 12 month low of $33.05 and a 12 month high of $57.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $920.96 million during 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%. As a group, analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is presently 33.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CAKE. Barclays upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.