The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE Shares Sold by Legato Capital Management LLC

Legato Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 49.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,091 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 8,870 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter worth about $8,050,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 469,225 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,638,000 after acquiring an additional 120,719 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,704,314 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $106,792,000 after acquiring an additional 99,688 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter worth approximately $4,680,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 131.8% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 97,055 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,081,000 after purchasing an additional 55,185 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.70, for a total value of $459,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,896,713. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ashley W. Hanscom sold 2,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.64, for a total transaction of $193,703.64. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,731.24. The trade was a 21.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 15,376 shares of company stock worth $1,010,219 over the last three months. Insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $64.04 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 12-month low of $42.69 and a 12-month high of $69.70. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.97.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.68% and a net margin of 3.96%.The company had revenue of $961.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $949.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Cheesecake Factory’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAKE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus cut their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $72.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Cheesecake Factory from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group set a $53.00 price target on Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $75.00 price objective on Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.81.

Cheesecake Factory Profile

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.