1,500 Shares in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Purchased by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Papa John’s International by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,574,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,201,000 after buying an additional 207,550 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Papa John’s International by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,479,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,381,000 after buying an additional 353,832 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Papa John’s International by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,866,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,327,000 after buying an additional 450,885 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Papa John’s International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $102,786,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Papa John’s International by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,411,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,275,000 after buying an additional 92,937 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total transaction of $202,626.06. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PZZA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stephens started coverage on Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.10.

Papa John’s International Stock Performance

Papa John’s International stock opened at $60.95 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.14. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a one year low of $60.66 and a one year high of $86.38.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $571.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.15 million. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.84%. Papa John’s International’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.80%.

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.