The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Chairman David Overton Sells 100,000 Shares

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,131,162.76. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $54.03 on Friday. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 12-month low of $33.05 and a 12-month high of $57.32. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.10.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. Research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 33.75%.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 101,208 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,801,000 after buying an additional 13,678 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 489,570 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $23,225,000 after buying an additional 146,469 shares in the last quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,500,000. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 8,215 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapience Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,857,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CAKE. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.19.

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.