New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 24,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,047,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Zoetis by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,739,905,000 after buying an additional 120,158 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,864,488,000 after acquiring an additional 95,856 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,030,813,000 after acquiring an additional 185,364 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,541 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Zoetis by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,561,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $906,202,000 after purchasing an additional 433,429 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ZTS shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $163.03 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $200.33. The stock has a market cap of $73.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.80, a PEG 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. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.67.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

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

Zoetis Company 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.