Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 4,491 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,685 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,491 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter worth about $31,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 482.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Down 2.1 %

ZTS stock opened at $164.99 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $73.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $166.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. Analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 36.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ZTS. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.40.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other Zoetis 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 owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.