Intech Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 17,836 The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,836 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $723,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CAKE. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 276.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Wealth Alliance bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter worth $227,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 13.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on CAKE shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $653,178.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at $747,052.76. The trade was a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $50.64 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.22. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 12-month low of $30.96 and a 12-month high of $50.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.47.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. Cheesecake Factory’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.06%.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.