The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Shares Sold by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,910 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,620 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAKE. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.40.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of CAKE opened at $50.45 on Wednesday. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a twelve month low of $31.24 and a twelve month high of $52.10.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is currently 41.06%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This trade represents a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

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.