Insider Selling: Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Chairman Sells 104,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• David Overton, Chairman of The Cheesecake Factory, sold 104,000 shares on May 1 at an average price of $61.02 for about $6.35 million, cutting his ownership by 3.27% to 3,079,779 shares.
• The company beat expectations in the latest quarter with EPS of $1.05 versus the $1.03 consensus and revenue of $978.8 million (vs. $964.6 million), a 5.6% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Cheesecake Factory declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share (ex-dividend May 13, payable May 26), equal to $1.20 annually and a yield of about 2.0% with a payout ratio near 35%.

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total transaction of $6,346,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 3,079,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,928,114.58. This trade represents a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE traded down $0.91 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $59.29. 1,093,546 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,338,883. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a twelve month low of $43.07 and a twelve month high of $69.70. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $59.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.04.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $978.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $964.57 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 44.74% and a net margin of 4.34%.Cheesecake Factory's revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is 35.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Woodline Partners LP lifted 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 valued at $33,771,000 after acquiring an additional 564,744 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,057,118 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $112,401,000 after acquiring an additional 407,223 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 214.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,583.7% during the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 287,219 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $14,499,000 after acquiring an additional 270,160 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 54.0% during the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on CAKE. Weiss Ratings raised Cheesecake Factory from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.00.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.