Bank of America Raises Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target to $67.00

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $61.00 to $67.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Bank of America's price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.87% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on CAKE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.38.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 1.9%

CAKE stock traded up $1.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $63.89. The company had a trading volume of 259,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,253,590. Cheesecake Factory has a 52-week low of $33.50 and a 52-week high of $65.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.12. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 46.06% and a net margin of 4.33%. The firm had revenue of $927.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $927.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $2,783,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,145,062.88. This trade represents a 70.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $2,402,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,289,168. This trade represents a 51.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,000 shares of company stock worth $7,456,992. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter valued at $5,559,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 274,877 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $13,376,000 after buying an additional 6,047 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth $489,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth $972,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth $6,513,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.