New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $6.94 Million Position in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 47.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,982 shares of the company’s stock after selling 81,815 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Papa John’s International were worth $6,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in shares of Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,368,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 11.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 731.9% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 62,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,263,000 after buying an additional 54,949 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 52.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 21,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after buying an additional 7,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International during the third quarter worth about $257,000.

Insider Transactions at Papa John’s International

In related news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total value of $202,626.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Papa John’s International Trading Down 1.3 %

Papa John’s International stock opened at $58.98 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.28. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.95 and a 12 month high of $86.38. The company has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.16.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.84%. The company had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Papa John’s International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens initiated coverage on Papa John’s International in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, March 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.60.

Papa John’s International Company 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.