Maverick Capital Ltd. Takes $926,000 Position in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 17,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $926,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Papa Johns International as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PZZA. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,467,000. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Papa Johns International during the third quarter valued at about $7,207,000. Isthmus Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 264.4% in the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 35,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,926,000 after buying an additional 25,947 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 19.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 3,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 89.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PZZA shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Papa Johns International from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.82.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PZZA opened at $49.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.23. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.90 and a 52 week high of $78.67.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $506.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Papa Johns International’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.11%.

About Papa Johns 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.