Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 287 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,060 shares of the company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,829,815 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 665,331 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 572,511 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter worth about $110,809,000. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth about $83,835,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $166.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $166.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.99. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.33. The company has a market cap of $74.76 billion, a PE ratio of 30.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.56%.

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.