Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Shares Sold by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC cut its position in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 82.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,365 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,417 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Papa John’s International were worth $104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PZZA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Papa John’s International in the 3rd quarter valued at $102,786,000. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Papa John’s International by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,411,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,275,000 after purchasing an additional 92,937 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 556,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,965,000 after purchasing an additional 25,991 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Papa John’s International by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 516,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,225,000 after purchasing an additional 61,450 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PZZA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Stephens started coverage on Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.60.

Papa John’s International Trading Down 0.7 %

PZZA stock opened at $62.65 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.48. The company has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.14. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.24 and a 52 week high of $86.38.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.15 million. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

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.