Vanguard Group Inc. Has $274.71 Million Position in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,603,639 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 123,995 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.00% of Papa John’s International worth $274,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 396.5% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Cutler Group LLC CA acquired a new stake in Papa John’s International in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Papa John’s International in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Papa John’s International by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 819 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Papa John’s International during the 4th quarter worth about $114,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Papa John’s International from $77.00 to $58.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Wedbush cut their price objective on Papa John’s International from $76.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $87.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.80.

Papa John’s International Trading Up 0.8 %

Papa John’s International stock opened at $46.98 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.11. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.20 and a 12 month high of $86.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.85 and its 200-day moving average is $64.34.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $513.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $544.46 million. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Papa John’s International’s payout ratio is presently 81.78%.

Insider Transactions at Papa John’s International

In related news, CEO Ravi Thanawala purchased 1,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.41 per share, for a total transaction of $99,579.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 38,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,039,797.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Papa John’s International Profile

Papa John's International, Inc operates and franchises pizza delivery and carryout restaurants under the Papa John's trademark in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants, North America Commissaries, North America Franchising, and International Operations.