ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 2,271 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 23.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,337 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,271 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter worth $290,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 409,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,091,000 after buying an additional 9,450 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter worth $273,000. Wealth Alliance bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,241,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $48,772,000 after buying an additional 43,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $40.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $38.10 and its 200-day moving average is $37.49. The company has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.43. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52-week low of $28.63 and a 52-week high of $41.80.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 3.32%. The firm had revenue of $904.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $909.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CAKE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.08.

Cheesecake Factory 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.