The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $1,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. Mariner LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $62.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.19. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a twelve month low of $33.50 and a twelve month high of $65.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.16.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.12. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 46.06%. The business had revenue of $927.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $927.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $2,783,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,145,062.88. This represents a 70.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $2,402,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 40,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,289,168. This trade represents a 51.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,456,992 over the last three months. Insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAKE has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Argus set a $60.00 price target on Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.38.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.