Virtu Financial LLC Makes New Investment in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $547,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,084,000 after acquiring an additional 67,550 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,114,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $45,365,000 after purchasing an additional 12,493 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 166.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,076,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,062,000 after purchasing an additional 673,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 618,670 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,350,000 after purchasing an additional 20,769 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $50.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.58 and a 200-day moving average of $47.39. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52-week low of $33.05 and a 52-week high of $57.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. Equities research analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAKE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,131,162.76. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,687.36. The trade was a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Company 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.