Quest Partners LLC Makes New Investment in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 24,006 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $973,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $16,353,000 after purchasing an additional 99,341 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter valued at about $395,000. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $10,364,000 after acquiring an additional 22,416 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 23,110 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $937,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 0.4 %

Cheesecake Factory stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $46.43. 544,416 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 969,557. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business's 50 day moving average is $42.74 and its 200 day moving average is $39.75. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52 week low of $30.96 and a 52 week high of $50.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.47.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. Cheesecake Factory's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is 41.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CAKE. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.75.

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.