AlphaQuest LLC Buys 8,317 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 123.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,067 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,317 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 274,877 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,376,000 after purchasing an additional 6,047 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at $5,559,000. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at $299,000. Informed Momentum Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at $3,023,000. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 217.4% in the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 27,894 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after buying an additional 19,105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CAKE shares. Robert W. Baird set a $64.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President David M. Gordon sold 43,335 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.06, for a total value of $2,732,705.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 24,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,546,987.92. This trade represents a 63.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 12,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.88, for a total transaction of $816,121.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $448,379.28. This trade represents a 64.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.4%

Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $56.15 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.06. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1-year low of $41.68 and a 1-year high of $69.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $955.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $945.82 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 45.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.