Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Takes Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 54,930 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,606,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Cheesecake Factory at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $76,084,000 after buying an additional 67,550 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,363,051 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $64,663,000 after acquiring an additional 186,026 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth about $63,114,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,549 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $45,365,000 after purchasing an additional 12,493 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 166.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,076,347 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $51,062,000 after purchasing an additional 673,076 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $51.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,094,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,141,054. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 12 month low of $33.05 and a 12 month high of $57.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.42. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. Analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is 33.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wedbush raised their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.38.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total value of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at $164,131,162.76. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total value of $1,553,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. The trade was a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is currently 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.