Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Purchased by Callahan Advisors LLC

Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 90.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,105 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares during the quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pensionfund Sabic raised its stake in Zoetis by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,834,000 after buying an additional 279,092 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,684,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew 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 valued at $336,266,000 after buying an additional 572,511 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Leerink Partnrs upgraded 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 for the company 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $214.90.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Zoetis stock opened at $157.54 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $168.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.08 billion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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%.

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.