WINTON GROUP Ltd Reduces Stock Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

WINTON GROUP Ltd cut its holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 71.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,672 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 11,684 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% in the fourth 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 Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,149.5% during the fourth 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 increased its position 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 in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $48.66 on Tuesday. 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 12-month low of $33.05 and a 12-month high of $57.32. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.78.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. The company had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $912.67 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given 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 yield of 2.22%. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. This trade represents a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research 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.com, Cheesecake Factory currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.38.

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.