Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Gets Price Target Bump from Wells Fargo & Company

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its target price lifted by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $110.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 3.84% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Argus raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $72.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird raised Cheesecake Factory to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.67.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of CAKE opened at $114.39 on Wednesday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $107.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.45. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $43.07 and a 1-year high of $118.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.04.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.54 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.97% and a net margin of 4.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 94,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.27, for a total value of $10,004,789.15. Following the sale, the chairman owned 89,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,543,577.35. This represents a 51.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ashley Hanscom sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $754,100. This represents a 31.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 213,749 shares of company stock valued at $22,301,899 in the last three months. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,242,143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $68,008,000 after buying an additional 29,037 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter valued at $38,020,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter valued at $35,793,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter valued at $13,792,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter worth about $13,743,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is a restaurant company best known for The Cheesecake Factory, a full-service casual dining brand offering an extensive menu of American and international-inspired dishes, along with a broad selection of cheesecakes and other desserts. The company also operates North Italia, an Italian restaurant concept, and owns Fox Restaurant Concepts, which develops and operates additional restaurant brands, including Flower Child and Culinary Dropout.

The company was founded by David Overton, who opened the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills, California, in 1978 after his parents began a cheesecake business.