Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $356,000 Holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,507 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ruffer LLP bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at $9,401,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,364,000 after buying an additional 22,416 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 252.6% in the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 22,752 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after buying an additional 16,300 shares during the period. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth about $513,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 411,854 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,538,000 after acquiring an additional 9,252 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $44.40 on Tuesday. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 12-month low of $33.05 and a 12-month high of $57.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 33.75%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total value 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 trade represents a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on CAKE shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.13.

Cheesecake Factory 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.