Cerity Partners LLC Sells 1,925 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,925 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,364,000 after acquiring an additional 22,416 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,114,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth $270,000. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth about $1,142,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $51.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1-year low of $33.44 and a 1-year high of $57.32. 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 50-day moving average of $49.39 and a 200-day moving average of $48.62.

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

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is presently 33.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAKE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $1,553,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. The trade was a 42.12 % 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.