Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $54.85 and traded as high as $57.41. Cheesecake Factory shares last traded at $56.99, with a volume of 1,054,338 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Mizuho set a $75.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.81.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 1.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.97.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.68% and a net margin of 3.96%.The firm had revenue of $961.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $949.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Cheesecake Factory’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is currently 39.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.70, for a total transaction of $459,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,896,713. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 635 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $40,474.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $393,339.54. The trade was a 9.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,582 shares of company stock valued at $1,337,936. 8.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,487 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 220 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.