Woodline Partners LP Sells 501,077 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Woodline Partners LP lowered its holdings in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 87.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 70,777 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 501,077 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned 0.14% of Cheesecake Factory worth $3,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 360,718 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $17,112,000 after acquiring an additional 32,000 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth approximately $489,000. Ruffer LLP acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,401,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth approximately $972,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,513,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAKE has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $2,783,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,145,062.88. The trade was a 70.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 now directly owns 40,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,289,168. The trade was a 51.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.40% of the company's stock.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

CAKE traded down $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $55.15. 170,325 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,193,209. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a twelve month low of $33.50 and a twelve month high of $57.32. The company has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.24.

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

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Cheesecake Factory 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.