Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 43.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,026 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,078 shares during the period. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Papa John’s International were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Papa John’s International in the 4th quarter valued at $1,250,000. United Capital Management of KS Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. now owns 10,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Papa John’s International in the 4th quarter valued at $114,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 31,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period.

Papa John’s International Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA opened at $61.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.14. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.66 and a 52 week high of $86.38.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.15 million. Papa John’s International had a net margin of 3.84% and a negative return on equity of 19.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.80%.

Insider Activity at Papa John’s International

In related news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total value of $202,626.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,320,228.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PZZA shares. Stephens started coverage on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.10.

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.