Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Price

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its target price upped by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential downside of 0.62% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CAKE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.63.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $50.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.12. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $33.48 and a 1-year high of $57.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.12. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. The firm had revenue of $927.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $927.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cheesecake Factory news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction of $1,553,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total value of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1,149.5% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.