New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $6.94 Million Holdings in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 47.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,982 shares of the company’s stock after selling 81,815 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.28% of Papa John’s International worth $6,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 5.8% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT lifted its holdings in Papa John’s International by 6.9% in the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 3,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Papa John’s International by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 6.7% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Papa John’s International news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of Papa John’s International stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total value of $202,626.06. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PZZA. Benchmark cut their price target on Papa John’s International from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, January 5th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Papa John’s International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.60.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

PZZA opened at $58.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $66.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.28. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.95 and a 1 year high of $86.38.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.18. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.84%. The business had revenue of $571.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.15 million. Papa John’s International’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.