Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 7,970 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 242% compared to the typical volume of 2,333 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Papa John's International

In other news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PZZA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Papa John's International by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,603,639 shares of the company's stock valued at $274,705,000 after acquiring an additional 123,995 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Papa John's International by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,698,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,502,000 after buying an additional 192,149 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Papa John's International by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,411,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,275,000 after buying an additional 92,937 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 932,785 shares of the company's stock worth $62,124,000 after acquiring an additional 42,867 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in Papa John's International by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 922,911 shares of the company's stock worth $70,354,000 after purchasing an additional 55,227 shares in the last quarter.

Papa John's International Stock Down 6.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PZZA traded down $3.91 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $53.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,880,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 826,761. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.11. Papa John's International has a 1 year low of $52.07 and a 1 year high of $86.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.16.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $571.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Papa John's International will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John's International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Papa John's International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on PZZA shares. Benchmark cut their price target 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. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Papa John's International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Papa John's International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.