Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stake in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its position in shares of Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 375,400 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,437 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 1.15% of Papa John's International worth $15,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Papa John's International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John's International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John's International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 506.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Papa John's International by 2,758.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,144 shares of the company's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PZZA has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on Papa John's International from $45.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Papa John's International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on Papa John's International from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Papa John's International has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.25.

Papa John's International Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:PZZA traded down $0.32 on Monday, hitting $44.74. The company had a trading volume of 997,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,241,121. Papa John's International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.16 and a 1-year high of $60.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.11.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $518.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $512.48 million. Papa John's International had a negative return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 3.77%. The company's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Papa John's International, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John's International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Papa John's International's dividend payout ratio is presently 78.30%.

About Papa John's International

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.