Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Shares Bought by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,320 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,896 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.19% of Papa John’s International worth $4,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PZZA. CWM LLC lifted its position in Papa John’s International by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 5.8% in 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 grew its holdings in Papa John’s International by 6.9% during the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 3,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Papa John’s International by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Papa John’s International by 6.7% during 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 in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $202,626.06. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Papa John’s International Stock Performance

Papa John’s International stock opened at $58.98 on Friday. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.95 and a 1 year high of $86.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.18. Papa John’s International had a net margin of 3.84% and a negative return on equity of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $571.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PZZA. BTIG Research cut shares of Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, March 1st. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.60.

About Papa John’s International

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.