Blue Trust Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,246 shares of the company’s stock after selling 806 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after buying an additional 4,829,815 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 41,235.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,652,000 after purchasing an additional 937,700 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,809,000. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.90.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $157.54 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $71.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $168.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.79. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. Sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.