536 Shares in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Acquired by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PZZA. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 23.5% during the fourth 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. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT raised its stake in Papa John’s International by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 3,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in 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. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 396.5% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 422 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ravi Thanawala bought 1,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.41 per share, for a total transaction of $99,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 38,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,039,797.20. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Papa John’s International news, CEO Ravi Thanawala purchased 1,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.41 per share, for a total transaction of $99,579.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PZZA shares. KeyCorp cut their price target on Papa John’s International from $78.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Thursday. Wedbush decreased their price target on Papa John’s International from $76.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Papa John’s International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.36.

Papa John’s International Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA opened at $47.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.89. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.81 and a 12 month high of $86.38. The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.16.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.09. Papa John’s International had a net margin of 3.50% and a negative return on equity of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $513.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $544.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.78%.

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.