LPL Financial LLC Has $2.82 Million Stock Holdings in Papa John's International, Inc. $PZZA

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC significantly increased its holdings in Papa John's International by 438.4%, reaching a total of $2.82 million worth of stock.
• Several large investors also made notable changes to their positions, with Bessemer Group Inc. increasing their stake by 2,758.7%.
• Papa John's International reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.41, exceeding consensus estimates by $0.07, with revenue growing 4.2% year-over-year.

LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 438.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,528 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 55,801 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.21% of Papa John's International worth $2,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PZZA. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Papa John's International by 214.7% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in Papa John's International by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,610 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Papa John's International by 506.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Papa John's International in the 4th quarter valued at about $87,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Papa John's International by 2,758.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,144 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PZZA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Papa John's International from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $42.00 target price on shares of Papa John's International and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $52.00 target price (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $42.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Monday, August 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Papa John's International has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.33.

Papa John's International Trading Down 0.1%

Papa John's International stock opened at $47.57 on Monday. Papa John's International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.16 and a 1-year high of $60.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.86.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Papa John's International had a net margin of 3.58% and a negative return on equity of 14.42%. The business had revenue of $529.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $515.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. Papa John's International's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Papa John's International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Papa John's International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Papa John's International's payout ratio is 81.42%.

Papa John's International Company Profile

Papa John's International, Inc engages in the operation and franchise of pizza delivery and carryout restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Domestic Company-owned Restaurants, North America Franchising, North America Commissaries, International Operations, and All Others. The Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants segment consists of retail sales of pizza and side items, breadsticks, cheese sticks, chicken poppers and wings, dessert items, and canned and bottled beverages.

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