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

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Director Alexander Cappello sold 635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total transaction of $40,474.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $393,339.54. This represents a 9.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE traded up $1.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $65.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,474,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,460,423. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $57.62 and its 200-day moving average is $55.05. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1 year low of $42.69 and a 1 year high of $69.70.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $961.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $949.03 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 47.09% and a net margin of 3.96%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Cheesecake Factory’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,337,671 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $118,006,000 after purchasing an additional 280,553 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 80,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,088,000 after purchasing an additional 41,034 shares in the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth about $2,027,000. Finally, Odyssean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at about $730,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAKE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $75.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group set a $53.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $70.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.81.

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.