Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Position in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 146,370 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,650 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.45% of Papa John's International worth $11,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PZZA. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Papa John's International by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 819 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Papa John's International by 5.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the company's stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT lifted its position in shares of Papa John's International by 6.9% in the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 3,994 shares of the company's stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Papa John's International by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,501 shares of the company's stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Papa John's International by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,482 shares of the company's stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter.

Papa John's International Stock Down 1.1 %

PZZA traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $58.31. 902,691 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 778,526. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.25. Papa John's International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.24 and a 52-week high of $86.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.16.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $571.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $578.15 million. Papa John's International had a net margin of 3.84% and a negative return on equity of 19.46%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Papa John's International, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa John's International Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Papa John's International's payout ratio is 74.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PZZA has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Papa John's International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Papa John's International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Papa John's International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price objective on Papa John's International from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Papa John's International has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Papa John's International news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of Papa John's International stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 18,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Papa John's International Profile

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.