Domino's Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $435.97, but opened at $458.55. Domino's Pizza shares last traded at $445.11, with a volume of 477,502 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DPZ. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Domino's Pizza in a report on Friday, October 11th. Barclays lowered their target price on Domino's Pizza from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Domino's Pizza from $455.00 to $450.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Domino's Pizza from $582.00 to $557.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Domino's Pizza from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $494.38.

Domino's Pizza Trading Down 1.3 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $423.60 and a 200-day moving average of $458.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.86.

Domino's Pizza (NYSE:DPZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The restaurant operator reported $4.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Domino's Pizza had a negative return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 12.26%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.18 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Domino's Pizza, Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Domino's Pizza Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Domino's Pizza's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrew Balson sold 6,970 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $428.27, for a total transaction of $2,985,041.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,390 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,591,075.30. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Domino's Pizza by 5.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,098,664 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,036,544,000 after buying an additional 222,949 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Domino's Pizza by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,189,836 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $941,936,000 after purchasing an additional 307,528 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Domino's Pizza by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,666,158 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $716,681,000 after purchasing an additional 23,681 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in Domino's Pizza in the 3rd quarter valued at about $549,399,000. Finally, Marshfield Associates grew its holdings in Domino's Pizza by 0.3% during the second quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 713,481 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $368,392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,271 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.63% of the company's stock.

Domino's Pizza Company Profile

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.