1,557,637 Shares in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Acquired by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. has acquired 1,557,637 shares of The Cheesecake Factory, totaling approximately $75.80 million, representing a 3.15% stake in the company.
• Insider trading activity includes significant sales, with insider Keith Carango selling 50,500 shares and the CFO Matthew Eliot Clark selling 42,900 shares, indicating a decrease in their holdings.
• The Cheesecake Factory recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, with a yield of 1.8%, set to be paid on August 26th to investors on record by August 12th.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,557,637 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $75,795,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 3.15% of Cheesecake Factory as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 38.5% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,244 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter worth $72,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CAKE. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $67.00 target price (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.75.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $61.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,497,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,744,523. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.75. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a one year low of $35.12 and a one year high of $69.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

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 (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 analyst estimates of $945.82 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.92% and a net margin of 4.33%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is 33.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of Cheesecake Factory 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 40,878 shares in the company, valued at $2,289,168. The trade was a 51.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the director directly owned 6,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $448,379.28. This represents a 64.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 145,388 shares of company stock worth $8,273,113 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.40% of the company's stock.

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.