First Trust Advisors LP Has $4.32 Million Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 323.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,982 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 69,515 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.18% of Cheesecake Factory worth $4,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,149.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,321 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on CAKE shares. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.63.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total value of $5,308,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction of $1,553,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,687.36. This trade represents a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Cheesecake Factory stock traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $50.11. 918,020 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,222,539. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. 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 $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.28.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $927.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. 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.