Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,536 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $547,000.

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

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of CAKE stock traded down $1.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $49.68. The stock had a trading volume of 915,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,523. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $51.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.61. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a one year low of $33.05 and a one year high of $57.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

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Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $912.67 million. Equities analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is 33.75%.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at $164,131,162.76. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CAKE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.38.

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.