Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Director Alexander Cappello Sells 635 Shares

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Director Alexander Cappello sold 635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $40,474.90. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at $393,339.54. This trade represents a 9.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ CAKE traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $65.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 298,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,429,350. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $57.93 and a 200 day moving average of $55.13. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a twelve month low of $42.69 and a twelve month high of $69.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is an increase from Cheesecake Factory’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,059.3% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 618,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,771,000 after purchasing an additional 564,744 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,057,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,401,000 after purchasing an additional 407,223 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 214.3% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 512,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,850,000 after purchasing an additional 349,168 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,583.7% in the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 287,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,499,000 after acquiring an additional 270,160 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 54.0% in the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 747,046 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,819,000 after acquiring an additional 262,081 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CAKE. Jefferies Financial Group set a $70.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Cheesecake Factory from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.