Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Director Alexander Cappello Sells 2,490 Shares

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Director Alexander Cappello sold 2,490 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.90, for a total transaction of $161,601.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at $400,497.90. This represents a 28.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock traded down $1.04 on Thursday, hitting $63.84. 921,642 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,277,626. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.04. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1 year low of $43.07 and a 1 year high of $69.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.59.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $978.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $964.57 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 43.74%. The company’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CAKE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $75.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.94.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 226.5% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 661.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 716 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. NFSG Corp lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 115.8% in the 1st quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 682 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 973.2% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

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.