Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) CFO Sells $459,900.00 in Stock

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.70, for a total value of $459,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,090 shares in the company, valued at $2,896,713. This trade represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $65.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,042,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,449,335. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.59. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1-year low of $42.69 and a 1-year high of $69.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.13.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.96% and a return on equity of 45.68%. The company had revenue of $961.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $949.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Cheesecake Factory’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CAKE. Argus cut their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $72.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Cheesecake Factory from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $70.00 price objective on Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.81.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 226.5% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 661.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 716 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 39.2% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 632 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 973.2% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.