Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 64.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,766,131 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 689,784 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 3.57% of Cheesecake Factory worth $85,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 100.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 38.5% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,244 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Mariner LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at $213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $67.00 price target (up from $66.00) on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Scarlett May sold 20,800 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.02, for a total value of $1,165,216.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,281,289.44. The trade was a 47.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total value of $2,783,560.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,145,062.88. This represents a 70.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,456,992 in the last 90 days. 8.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 1.2%

Cheesecake Factory stock traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $62.68. 1,408,480 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,257,505. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $58.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a twelve month low of $33.50 and a twelve month 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $927.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $927.17 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 46.06% and a net margin of 4.33%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

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.