Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Key Points

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Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $45.00 to $47.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "underweight" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price suggests a potential downside of 24.66% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $64.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $67.00 target price (up from $66.00) on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.06.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

NASDAQ CAKE traded down $1.53 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $62.38. 1,941,239 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,545,028. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.17. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $33.50 and a one year high of $69.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $61.06 and a 200-day moving average of $54.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $955.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $945.82 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 46.15% and a net margin of 4.33%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 12,388 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.88, for a total value of $816,121.44. Following the sale, the director owned 6,806 shares of the company's stock, valued at $448,379.28. This trade represents a 64.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $2,402,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,878 shares in the company, valued at $2,289,168. This represents a 51.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 145,388 shares of company stock worth $8,273,113. 8.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,443,458 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $258,238,000 after acquiring an additional 21,096 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 156.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,045,705 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $148,204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859,194 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 83.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,591,205 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $126,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,722 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,766,131 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $85,940,000 after acquiring an additional 689,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,604,626 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $78,081,000 after acquiring an additional 241,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company's stock.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.