Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Purchased by abrdn plc

abrdn plc grew its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 32.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,025,318 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 249,308 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $202,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth about $745,861,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,872,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,593,395,000 after buying an additional 2,796,694 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 124,281.9% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,332,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,778,000 after buying an additional 2,330,285 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 171.7% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,326,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $627,335,000 after buying an additional 2,102,306 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at $176,219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Zoetis from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.75.

Zoetis Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of Zoetis stock traded down $6.61 on Friday, hitting $146.50. The company had a trading volume of 6,228,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,674,485. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.80 and a twelve month high of $201.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $175.48 and a 200-day moving average of $180.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 2.00.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.08). Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.25% and a net margin of 27.43%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.432 per share. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 34.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.17, for a total value of $139,529.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,237,316. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,209 shares of company stock worth $371,293. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.