Earnest Partners LLC Sells 19,357 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Earnest Partners LLC lowered its stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,726,383 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 19,357 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned 5.34% of Cheesecake Factory worth $129,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $711,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 7,377 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 2,187 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at $394,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,774 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 3,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,041 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 1,628 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total value of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at $164,131,162.76. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total value of $1,553,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. This trade represents a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE traded up $2.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.56. 1,001,971 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,218,367. The business's fifty day moving average is $48.83 and its 200-day moving average is $49.05. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52-week low of $33.44 and a 52-week high of $57.32. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $927.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $927.17 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. Cheesecake Factory's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast 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, 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 2.14%. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. UBS Group raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays dropped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Cheesecake Factory from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.63.

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.