The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires New Holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 21,761 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,731,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CAKE. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 28,742 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 30.9% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 92,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,509,000 after buying an additional 21,887 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 8.5% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 109,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,343,000 after buying an additional 8,592 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in 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 worth $83,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 5.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 112,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,019,000 after buying an additional 5,326 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on CAKE shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $88.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $72.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 94,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.27, for a total transaction of $10,004,789.15. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares in the company, valued at $9,543,577.35. This trade represents a 51.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scarlett May sold 7,978 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.66, for a total transaction of $819,021.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,241 shares in the company, valued at $1,872,621.06. This trade represents a 30.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 213,749 shares of company stock valued at $22,301,899 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $107.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.68. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a twelve month low of $43.07 and a twelve month high of $118.46. The company has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.05, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.01.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $999.54 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.97% and a net margin of 4.61%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

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.