The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 513,649 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 10,350 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 1.01% of Cheesecake Factory worth $24,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,149.5% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. The trade was a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

CAKE opened at $47.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.63 and a 200-day moving average of $46.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1-year low of $33.05 and a 1-year high of $57.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Equities analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAKE has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.19.

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.