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

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

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

CAKE stock opened at $54.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.51. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $51.63 and a 200-day moving average of $46.17. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 12-month low of $33.05 and a 12-month high of $57.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CAKE. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at $63,114,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at $56,288,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 166.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,076,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,062,000 after purchasing an additional 673,076 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at $21,827,000. Finally, JCP Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 181.3% during the fourth quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC now owns 667,210 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,652,000 after purchasing an additional 430,000 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CAKE shares. Raymond James upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” 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 given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory presently 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.