Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) Short Interest Down 13.6% in May

Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, a decline of 13.6% from the May 15th total of 1,320,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 549,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Cynthia A. Headen sold 108 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $495.08, for a total transaction of $53,468.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,910 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Domino’s Pizza news, CEO Russell J. Weiner sold 11,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.37, for a total value of $6,200,638.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,001 shares in the company, valued at $16,844,366.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Cynthia A. Headen sold 108 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $495.08, for a total value of $53,468.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,910 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,633 shares of company stock valued at $6,649,181 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Domino’s Pizza

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Domino’s Pizza in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Domino’s Pizza during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in Domino’s Pizza by 127.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 82 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Domino’s Pizza by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 112 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in Domino’s Pizza during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 94.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on DPZ shares. Benchmark increased their target price on Domino’s Pizza from $510.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Domino’s Pizza from $485.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays increased their target price on Domino’s Pizza from $405.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Domino’s Pizza from $455.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Domino’s Pizza from $555.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $525.66.

Domino’s Pizza Stock Performance

NYSE:DPZ traded down $5.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $521.41. 374,150 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 399,481. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $508.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $457.06. Domino’s Pizza has a fifty-two week low of $313.87 and a fifty-two week high of $542.75.

Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.46 by $0.12. Domino’s Pizza had a negative return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 11.90%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Domino’s Pizza will post 16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Domino’s Pizza Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Domino’s Pizza’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.43%.

About Domino’s Pizza

Domino's Pizza, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a pizza company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Stores, International Franchise, and Supply Chain. It offers pizzas under the Domino's brand name through company-owned and franchised stores.