Fisher Asset Management LLC Purchases 9,252 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 411,854 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,252 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.81% of Cheesecake Factory worth $19,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth $63,114,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 99,341 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 67,550 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 159.6% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 97,765 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,964,000 after acquiring an additional 60,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth $2,356,000. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the 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 approximately $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 directly owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 5.1 %

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $51.29 on Tuesday. 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 has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.34. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1 year low of $33.05 and a 1 year high of $57.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAKE shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.