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

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Director Janice Meyer sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.36, for a total transaction of $214,126.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,324,009.36. This trade represents a 8.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 2.5%

NASDAQ:CAKE traded down $2.71 on Tuesday, hitting $106.36. 1,794,378 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,017,726. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.47. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52 week low of $43.07 and a 52 week high of $118.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.00.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.26. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.97% and a net margin of 4.61%.The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $999.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Cheesecake Factory’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CAKE. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $50.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 28,742 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 30.9% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 92,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,509,000 after acquiring an additional 21,887 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 8.5% during the 1st 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. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,333 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 5.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 112,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,019,000 after purchasing an additional 5,326 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.