Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Director Janice Meyer Sells 1,958 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director Janice Meyer sold 1,958 Cheesecake Factory shares at an average price of $109.36, generating $214,126.88 and reducing her ownership by 8.44% to 21,251 shares.
• CAKE recently reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings of $1.44 per share versus the $1.18 consensus and revenue of $1.03 billion, up 7.7% year over year.
• The stock traded at $106.36, near its 52-week high of $118.46, while the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share. Analysts’ consensus rating remained Hold, with an average price target of $81.

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) Director Janice Meyer sold 1,958 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.36, for a total value of $214,126.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 21,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,324,009.36. The trade was a 8.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

CAKE traded down $2.71 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $106.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,794,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,017,726. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.47. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1-year low of $43.07 and a 1-year high of $118.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $999.54 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 43.97%. Cheesecake Factory's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is 32.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,059.3% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 618,056 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,771,000 after purchasing an additional 564,744 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter worth about $38,020,000. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter worth about $35,793,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,057,118 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $112,401,000 after buying an additional 407,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 214.3% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 512,085 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,850,000 after acquiring an additional 349,168 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on CAKE. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.00.

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.

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