First Eagle Investment Management LLC Has $5.18 Million Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,791 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 29,267 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $5,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 632 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 32.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,333 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 36.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 16.4% in the third quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter worth $137,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,896,713. The trade was a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ashley W. Hanscom sold 2,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.64, for a total transaction of $193,703.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,041 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,376 shares of company stock valued at $1,010,219. 8.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $64.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $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 1-year low of $42.69 and a 1-year high of $69.70.

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

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Cheesecake Factory from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho set a $75.00 price objective on Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stephens cut Cheesecake Factory from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.81.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.