Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,158 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Zoetis worth $6,739,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Napatree Capital LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 3,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $548,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 396,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,722,000 after buying an additional 37,275 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 512.3% in the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 9,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after buying an additional 7,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,038,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $162.86 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $166.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.38. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 36.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ZTS shares. UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Profile

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.