Morgan Stanley Cuts Domino’s Pizza (NASDAQ:DPZ) Price Target to $430.00

Domino’s Pizza (NASDAQ:DPZ) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $455.00 to $430.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Domino’s Pizza in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Domino’s Pizza from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Argus raised shares of Domino’s Pizza to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Domino’s Pizza in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Domino’s Pizza from $500.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $465.74.

Domino’s Pizza Price Performance

DPZ stock opened at $372.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $380.92 and its 200-day moving average is $401.44. Domino’s Pizza has a 1 year low of $346.31 and a 1 year high of $499.08.

Domino’s Pizza (NASDAQ:DPZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $5.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.38 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter. Domino’s Pizza had a negative return on equity of 15.28% and a net margin of 12.18%.Domino’s Pizza’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Domino’s Pizza will post 19.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Domino’s Pizza Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $1.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $7.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Domino’s Pizza’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.74. Domino’s Pizza’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Domino’s Pizza

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DPZ. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Domino’s Pizza by 21,977.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 914,672 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $381,254,000 after acquiring an additional 910,529 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Domino’s Pizza in the 4th quarter valued at about $285,116,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its stake in Domino’s Pizza by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 3,350,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,396,347,000 after buying an additional 368,055 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Domino’s Pizza by 2,845.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 264,024 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $113,982,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Domino’s Pizza by 8,229.8% in the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 242,314 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $104,609,000 after buying an additional 239,405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.63% of the company’s stock.

About Domino’s Pizza

Domino’s Pizza, Inc (NASDAQ: DPZ) is a global pizza delivery and carryout chain founded in 1960 and headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company specializes in a broad range of hand‐crafted pizzas, including hand-tossed, thin crust and specialty offerings, alongside side items such as chicken wings, sandwiches, pasta, desserts and beverages. Domino’s has built its brand on convenience and speed, leveraging proprietary ordering platforms and its Domino’s Tracker system to provide real-time status updates from order placement through delivery.

Operating predominantly under a franchise model, Domino’s has more than 17,000 stores worldwide, with approximately 95% of outlets owned and operated by independent franchisees.