Scarlett May Sells 20,800 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) EVP Scarlett May sold 20,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.02, for a total transaction of $1,165,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,281,289.44. The trade was a 47.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock traded up $0.49 on Tuesday, hitting $56.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,396,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,201,857. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a one year low of $33.50 and a one year high of $57.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $50.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.41.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.12. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. The firm had revenue of $927.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $927.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is 33.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 156.2% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 24,406 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 14,880 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 0.5% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 134,328 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $6,536,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 57.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,870 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,037,000 after acquiring an additional 15,342 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter worth $72,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 8.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 109,800 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,343,000 after acquiring an additional 8,592 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus set a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.00.

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.