Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 34,296 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 520.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,888 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,296 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Cheesecake Factory worth $1,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 100.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Mariner LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 1.2%

CAKE stock opened at $62.68 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.26. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $33.50 and a fifty-two week high of $65.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $927.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $927.17 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 46.06% and a net margin of 4.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAKE has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $2,783,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,145,062.88. The trade was a 70.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $2,402,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,289,168. The trade was a 51.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,456,992. Corporate 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.