Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target Cut to $48.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $55.00 to $48.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential downside of 1.77% from the stock’s previous close.

CAKE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.81.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $48.86. 346,942 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,131,355. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $33.05 and a 1 year high of $57.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.02. The stock has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. The company had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % 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, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,687.36. The trade was a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,443,458 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $258,238,000 after purchasing an additional 21,096 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,084,000 after acquiring an additional 67,550 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,412,483 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $67,008,000 after acquiring an additional 155,614 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,363,051 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $64,663,000 after acquiring an additional 186,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth about $63,114,000. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

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.