Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target Cut to $46.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Barclays from $50.00 to $46.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "underweight" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Barclays's price target indicates a potential downside of 8.38% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer raised Cheesecake Factory from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.06.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $50.21. The stock had a trading volume of 138,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,191,816. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44. Cheesecake Factory has a 12-month low of $33.44 and a 12-month high of $57.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.33 and a 200-day moving average of $48.69. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total value of $1,553,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,423,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,559,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 5.8% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,648 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,297,000 after buying an additional 1,452 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 100.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 16.7% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,645 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

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.