Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price target increased by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 1.71% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.06.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $63.91 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $33.50 and a twelve month high of $69.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.16.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.10. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 46.15%. The firm had revenue of $955.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $945.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $2,402,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 40,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,289,168. This trade represents a 51.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $2,783,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,774 shares in the company, valued at $1,145,062.88. The trade was a 70.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,456,992. Insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAKE. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,507 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth about $489,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 33,954 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,611,000 after acquiring an additional 12,370 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,443,458 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $258,238,000 after acquiring an additional 21,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,772 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.