Insider Selling: Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Chairman Sells $6,346,080.00 in Stock

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total transaction of $6,346,080.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,079,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,928,114.58. This represents a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $60.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.04. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 12 month low of $43.07 and a 12 month high of $69.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $978.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.57 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 43.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is currently 35.09%.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,059.3% in the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 618,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,771,000 after acquiring an additional 564,744 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% during the 3rd 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 boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 214.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 512,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,850,000 after purchasing an additional 349,168 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1,583.7% during the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 287,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,499,000 after purchasing an additional 270,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 54.0% in the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 747,046 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,819,000 after purchasing an additional 262,081 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial downgraded Cheesecake Factory from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Cheesecake Factory Company 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.