Alexander Cappello Sells 2,490 Shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Director Alexander Cappello sold 2,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.90, for a total transaction of $161,601.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,497.90. The trade was a 28.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

CAKE stock opened at $66.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.43. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52 week low of $43.07 and a 52 week high of $69.70.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $964.57 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 43.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CAKE shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho set a $75.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.94.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,487 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,790,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 5,802 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.