Insider Selling: Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) EVP Sells $819,021.48 in Stock

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) EVP Scarlett May sold 7,978 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.66, for a total transaction of $819,021.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,872,621.06. This represents a 30.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock traded up $3.47 on Monday, reaching $104.89. 1,640,042 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,369,994. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52 week low of $43.07 and a 52 week high of $105.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.60 and a 200 day moving average of $66.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.43, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.01.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.54 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.94% and a net margin of 4.61%.Cheesecake Factory’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1,059.3% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 618,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,771,000 after buying an additional 564,744 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,057,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,401,000 after buying an additional 407,223 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 214.3% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 512,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,850,000 after acquiring an additional 349,168 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,583.7% in the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 287,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,499,000 after acquiring an additional 270,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 54.0% during the 3rd quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 747,046 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,819,000 after acquiring an additional 262,081 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CAKE shares. Argus upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $72.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research raised Cheesecake Factory from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.81.

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.