Alerus Financial NA Lowers Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Alerus Financial NA reduced its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 30.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,037 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,776 shares during the period. Alerus Financial NA’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Callahan Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 90.4% in the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after buying an additional 6,221 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Zoetis by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,617,000 after purchasing an additional 46,050 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,764,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 2,050.0% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,904,000 after purchasing an additional 28,700 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $165.12 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $200.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.94 billion, a PE ratio of 30.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued 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. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

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.