The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE Shares Purchased by LPL Financial LLC

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in The Cheesecake Factory by 13.8% during the first quarter, owning approximately 38,646 shares valued at $1,881,000.
• Insider trading activity revealed that Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares and Scarlett May sold 20,800 shares, significantly reducing their ownership in the company.
• The Cheesecake Factory reported $1.16 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and showing a 5.7% year-over-year revenue increase.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 13.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,646 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 4,692 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.08% of Cheesecake Factory worth $1,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CAKE. Mariner LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth $213,000. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 67,057.1% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 4,701 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 4,694 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 323.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 90,982 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,316,000 after buying an additional 69,515 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 29,436 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,396,000 after buying an additional 2,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 36.9% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,041 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $61.94. 1,255,597 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,615,756. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $35.40 and a fifty-two week high of $69.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.17. The business's 50 day moving average is $62.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.10. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 45.92%. The business had revenue of $955.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $945.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is 33.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, President David M. Gordon sold 43,335 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.06, for a total value of $2,732,705.10. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 24,532 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,987.92. This trade represents a 63.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 12,388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.88, for a total transaction of $816,121.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,806 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $448,379.28. The trade was a 64.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 145,823 shares of company stock worth $8,603,419 in the last three months. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.