Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Lowers Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lowered its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,075 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,486 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $9,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 38.1% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter worth $214,000. Coastline Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 4,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $791,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 47.1% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 80,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,997,000 after purchasing an additional 25,748 shares during the period. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the third quarter worth about $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ZTS. StockNews.com cut shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Zoetis from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.00.

Zoetis Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $158.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $72.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 3.36. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $201.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $171.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.31.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.25% and a net margin of 27.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $0.432 dividend. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.33, for a total transaction of $159,983.59. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,725,267.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 2,209 shares of company stock valued at $371,293 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Zoetis

Zoetis Inc engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products and services in the United States and internationally. The company commercializes products primarily across species, including livestock, such as cattle, swine, poultry, fish, and sheep and others; and companion animals comprising dogs, cats, and horses.