Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 41,919 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in The Cheesecake Factory by 0.8%, selling 41,919 shares, and now owns approximately 10.92% of the company, valued at $262.8 million.
• Cheesecake Factory reported a Q2 EPS of $1.16, beating estimates by $0.10, alongside a revenue increase to $955.8 million, up 5.7% from the previous year.
• The firm has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, representing a yield of 1.7%, to be paid on August 26th for stockholders of record on August 12th.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,401,539 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 41,919 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.92% of Cheesecake Factory worth $262,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CAKE. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter valued at $75,795,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth $56,288,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 64.1% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,766,131 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $85,940,000 after buying an additional 689,784 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at $21,827,000. Finally, JCP Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 181.3% during the 4th quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC now owns 667,210 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $31,652,000 after acquiring an additional 430,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $2,783,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,145,062.88. The trade was a 70.85% 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, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,289,168. The trade was a 51.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,723 shares of company stock worth $11,005,819 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on CAKE. Argus set a $60.00 price target on Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $64.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price target (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.94.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 1.0%

Cheesecake Factory stock traded up $0.6370 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.7670. 501,684 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,457,371. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.17. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $35.40 and a fifty-two week high of $69.70. The company's fifty day moving average price is $62.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.28.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $955.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $945.82 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.92% and a net margin of 4.33%.The firm's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

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

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.