The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stake Lessened by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 513,649 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 10,350 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $24,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,364,000 after buying an additional 22,416 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 8.2% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,074 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter valued at about $395,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,353,000 after acquiring an additional 99,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter valued at about $973,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CAKE. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Oppenheimer raised Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total value of $5,308,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,687.36. This trade represents a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

CAKE stock opened at $47.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.96. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52 week low of $33.05 and a 52 week high of $57.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued 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. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. The company had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

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.