Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 12,493 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,118,549 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 12,493 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.19% of Cheesecake Factory worth $45,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,600 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $927,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 7.4% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,341 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 13.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,771 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 530,497 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $20,843,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CAKE. Barclays upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $47.93.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

NASDAQ CAKE traded up $0.60 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.07. 356,822 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 984,439. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $47.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.64. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $31.24 and a fifty-two week high of $52.10.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $866.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is currently 41.06%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

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

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.