Studio Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Studio Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 27.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CAKE. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 360,718 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,112,000 after purchasing an additional 32,000 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth about $489,000. Ruffer LLP purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,401,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at about $972,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth about $6,513,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAKE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.60.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $56.06 on Friday. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 12-month low of $33.50 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. The company has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $49.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.83.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $927.17 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. This trade represents a 42.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. This represents a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.40% 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.