The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Shares Purchased by Aviance Capital Partners LLC

Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 23.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,751 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 4,863 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.05% of Cheesecake Factory worth $1,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 274,877 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $13,376,000 after buying an additional 6,047 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the first quarter worth about $345,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,423,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,559,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,648 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,452 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $2,402,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 40,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,289,168. This trade represents a 51.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scarlett May sold 18,800 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.82, for a total transaction of $1,105,816.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,345,331.04. This trade represents a 45.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,456,992. 8.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of CAKE stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $65.21. The company had a trading volume of 607,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,243,299. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.16. The company's fifty day moving average is $56.10 and its 200 day moving average is $52.13. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $33.50 and a fifty-two week high of $65.99.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.12. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 46.06% and a net margin of 4.33%. The company had revenue of $927.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $927.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAKE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus set a $60.00 price target on Cheesecake Factory in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.63.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.