Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 4,687 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in The Cheesecake Factory by 0.9% in Q1, owning approximately 508,962 shares valued at $24.77 million after selling 4,687 shares.
• The Cheesecake Factory reported earnings of $1.16 per share for the previous quarter, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.
• The stock has experienced a decline of 2.4%, with a current market cap of $3.09 billion and a price target set between $62.00 and $67.00 by multiple analysts.

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 508,962 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 4,687 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 1.03% of Cheesecake Factory worth $24,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,507 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth about $489,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 33,954 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 12,370 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,443,458 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $258,238,000 after buying an additional 21,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,772 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE traded down $1.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,941,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,642,107. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.37. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a one year low of $33.50 and a one year high of $69.70.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.10. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 46.15%. The business had revenue of $955.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $945.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. Cheesecake Factory's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus set a $60.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 target price (up from $66.00) on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $2,402,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,878 shares in the company, valued at $2,289,168. This represents a 51.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Scarlett May sold 18,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,331.04. The trade was a 45.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 145,388 shares of company stock valued at $8,273,113. 8.10% of the stock is 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.