Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Trims Stock Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its position in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 327,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $15,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,443,458 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $258,238,000 after purchasing an additional 21,096 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,084,000 after buying an additional 67,550 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,412,483 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $67,008,000 after acquiring an additional 155,614 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,363,051 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $64,663,000 after acquiring an additional 186,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,114,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $47.02 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $49.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 12-month low of $33.08 and a 12-month high of $57.32. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.75%.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total value of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was 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 owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. This trade represents a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CAKE. Barclays upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.81.

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.