Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 1,198 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,196 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,198 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $1,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased 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 worth $76,084,000 after buying an additional 67,550 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,114,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $45,365,000 after buying an additional 12,493 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 597,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $24,245,000 after buying an additional 6,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,353,000 after buying an additional 99,341 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $54.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.51. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1 year low of $33.05 and a 1 year high of $57.32. 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 50 day simple moving average is $51.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.17.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. The business had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $912.67 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is presently 33.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,131,162.76. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CAKE shares. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.19.

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.