one8zero8 LLC Purchases New Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

one8zero8 LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $368,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 0.8% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 104,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,489,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,497,000 after acquiring an additional 351,372 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 90.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,312,000 after purchasing an additional 8,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Family Trust purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter worth about $213,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ZTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $161.33 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a PE ratio of 29.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $200.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.10.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. As a group, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Zoetis’s payout ratio 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.