Edgestream Partners L.P. Takes Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 71,846 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $3,408,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter worth about $973,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,364,000 after purchasing an additional 22,416 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 16,300 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,142,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth $270,000. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,131,162.76. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,687.36. The trade was a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAKE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.19.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 1.9 %

CAKE opened at $49.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a one year low of $33.05 and a one year high of $57.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $912.67 million. Equities research analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

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.