Millennium Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Millennium Management LLC cut its holdings in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 88.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,921 shares of the company’s stock after selling 559,000 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.22% of Papa Johns International worth $2,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PZZA. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,589,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,371,000 after purchasing an additional 27,912 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Papa Johns International by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,500,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,635,000 after buying an additional 102,128 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in Papa Johns International by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,358,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,812,000 after buying an additional 173,316 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Papa Johns International by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,156,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,506,000 after buying an additional 64,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 117.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,118,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,933,000 after acquiring an additional 603,650 shares during the period.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

Shares of PZZA opened at $45.20 on Friday. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.16 and a 1 year high of $60.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.46. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. The company had revenue of $518.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $512.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Papa Johns International’s payout ratio is 78.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Papa Johns International from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Papa Johns International from $45.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.25.

About Papa Johns 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.