Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.11 Million in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 20,300 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,111,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 1,059.3% during the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 618,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,771,000 after purchasing an additional 564,744 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,057,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,401,000 after purchasing an additional 407,223 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 214.3% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 512,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,850,000 after purchasing an additional 349,168 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,583.7% in the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 287,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,499,000 after purchasing an additional 270,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 54.0% in the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 747,046 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,819,000 after purchasing an additional 262,081 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CAKE shares. Citigroup cut Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price target on Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Northcoast Research cut Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.29.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total value of $6,346,080.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 3,079,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,928,114.58. This represents a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 2,490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.90, for a total value of $161,601.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,497.90. This trade represents a 28.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $79.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $67.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.51. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a twelve month low of $43.07 and a twelve month high of $80.93.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $978.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $964.57 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.74% and a net margin of 4.34%.Cheesecake Factory’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 35.09%.

Cheesecake Factory Company 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.