Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $16.14 Million Stock Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 340,158 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 184,260 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $16,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 360,718 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,112,000 after purchasing an additional 32,000 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,507 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 95,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,512,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 40,665 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,929,000 after buying an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $48.70 on Friday. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1-year low of $33.05 and a 1-year high of $57.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.10. The company has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is 33.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,687.36. The trade was a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CAKE. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.81.

Cheesecake Factory Company 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.