SG Americas Securities LLC Has $588,000 Holdings in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its holdings in shares of Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 80.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,712 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,814 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Papa John's International were worth $588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in Papa John's International by 3.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 51,222 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,494,000 after buying an additional 1,799 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Papa John's International by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,479,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $237,381,000 after buying an additional 353,832 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Papa John's International by 83.9% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 10,730 shares of the company's stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 4,896 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Papa John's International in the 3rd quarter worth $581,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Papa John's International in the 3rd quarter worth $102,786,000.

Papa John's International Price Performance

PZZA traded down $0.64 on Friday, hitting $63.74. The company had a trading volume of 881,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 796,848. Papa John's International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.66 and a 52-week high of $86.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.14.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.15 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Papa John's International, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John's International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Papa John's International's payout ratio is 74.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Papa John's International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. BTIG Research cut shares of Papa John's International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Papa John's International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Friday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Papa John's International presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $82.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of Papa John's International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total value of $202,626.06. Following the sale, the director now directly 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. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

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.