American Century Companies Inc. Increases Stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 15.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,363,051 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 186,026 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 2.67% of Cheesecake Factory worth $64,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 1,149.5% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew 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 worth $110,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were 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 $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE stock traded down $1.41 on Friday, hitting $49.68. The company had a trading volume of 915,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,523. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a twelve month low of $33.05 and a twelve month high of $57.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is 33.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $50.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.38.

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.