South Street Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

South Street Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,457 shares of the company’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. South Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $196,651,000. Polen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 17.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,748,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,355,000 after acquiring an additional 867,993 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 296.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,917,000 after acquiring an additional 665,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,266,000 after acquiring an additional 572,511 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $165.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.97. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ZTS. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

Insider Activity

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.