Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 56,079 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 352,636 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 56,079 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.69% of Cheesecake Factory worth $16,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,443,458 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $258,238,000 after purchasing an additional 21,096 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,412,483 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,008,000 after buying an additional 155,614 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 186,026 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at $63,114,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth $56,288,000. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chairman now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 39,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. This trade represents a 42.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAKE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.00.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $51.83. The stock had a trading volume of 113,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,189,621. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.11. 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 Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 12 month low of $33.50 and a 12 month high of $57.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.96.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.12. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. The business had revenue of $927.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $927.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

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.