The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE Shares Bought by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 34.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 469,225 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 120,719 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $25,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,800,388 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $98,373,000 after acquiring an additional 96,074 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 8.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 299,520 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,366,000 after purchasing an additional 22,895 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.3% in the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 220,334 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,806,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 15.1% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 178,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,769,000 after purchasing an additional 23,434 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.0% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 137,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,645 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAKE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens lowered shares of Cheesecake Factory from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group set a $53.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $75.00 price target on Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Argus decreased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $72.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.81.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $63.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.97. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $42.69 and a fifty-two week high of $69.70.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $949.03 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.68% and a net margin of 3.96%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Cheesecake Factory’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Spero G. Alex sold 4,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.00, for a total value of $316,140.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $40,474.90. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,339.54. This trade represents a 9.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,376 shares of company stock worth $1,010,219. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

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.