Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Purchases 86,705 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 183.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,921 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,705 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.27% of Cheesecake Factory worth $7,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.6% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 16.4% during the third quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 6.0% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,415 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $57.06 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1-year low of $42.69 and a 1-year high of $69.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $961.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $949.03 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.96% and a return on equity of 45.68%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Cheesecake Factory’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is 39.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, insider Ashley W. Hanscom sold 2,951 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.64, for a total transaction of $193,703.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,041 shares in the company, valued at $724,731.24. This trade represents a 21.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Spero G. Alex sold 4,790 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.00, for a total transaction of $316,140.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,582 shares of company stock worth $1,337,936. Insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CAKE shares. UBS Group set a $53.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $75.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.81.

Cheesecake Factory Profile

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.