Factorial Partners LLC Trims Stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Factorial Partners LLC lessened its holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 63.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 21,000 shares during the period. Factorial Partners LLC's holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $111,245,000 after purchasing an additional 76,578 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,241,272 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $48,772,000 after acquiring an additional 43,128 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $37,038,000 after acquiring an additional 223,497 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 819,328 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $32,191,000 after acquiring an additional 60,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.7% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 530,497 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $20,843,000 after buying an additional 3,872 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CAKE. Barclays lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised Cheesecake Factory from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $653,178.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ CAKE traded up $0.06 on Wednesday, hitting $46.63. 705,099 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 970,577. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The business's fifty day moving average is $42.33 and its 200 day moving average is $39.66. 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 $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.47.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. Cheesecake Factory's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.06%.

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.