Insider Selling: The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Chairman Sells 100,000 Shares of Stock

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,131,162.76. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock traded up $1.56 on Friday, hitting $54.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,549,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,640,132. The company has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $51.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1 year low of $33.05 and a 1 year high of $57.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. The business had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $912.67 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CAKE. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter valued at approximately $973,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,364,000 after buying an additional 22,416 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth $1,142,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth $270,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,353,000 after acquiring an additional 99,341 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CAKE. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.19.

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.