Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Purchases Shares of 206,136 Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 206,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,756,000. Shake Shack accounts for approximately 1.2% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. owned 0.49% of Shake Shack at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of Shake Shack by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 1,399 shares in the last quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Shake Shack in the 4th quarter worth $411,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Shake Shack by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 361,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,979,000 after purchasing an additional 8,429 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Shake Shack during the 4th quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Shake Shack by 219.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. 86.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Shake Shack from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Gordon Haskett raised Shake Shack from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $154.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wedbush increased their target price on Shake Shack from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Shake Shack from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Shake Shack from $128.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Katherine Irene Fogertey sold 642 shares of Shake Shack stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.51, for a total transaction of $88,281.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,223,894.67. The trade was a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 9.73% of the company’s stock.

Shake Shack Trading Down 2.1 %

SHAK opened at $100.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $119.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.74. Shake Shack Inc. has a one year low of $77.50 and a one year high of $139.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 437.40 and a beta of 1.89.

Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.01. Shake Shack had a return on equity of 8.40% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company had revenue of $328.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.02 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Shake Shack Inc. will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

About Shake Shack

Shake Shack Inc owns, operates, and licenses Shake Shack restaurants (Shacks) in the United States and internationally. Its Shacks offers hamburgers, chicken, hot dogs, crinkle cut fries, shakes, frozen custard, beer, wine, and other products. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in New York, New York.