Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 120,158 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.17% of Zoetis worth $6,739,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Napatree Capital LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 3,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $548,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 396,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,722,000 after buying an additional 37,275 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 512.3% in the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 9,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after buying an additional 7,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $25,038,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis 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 transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $162.86 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $72.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $166.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.38. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 36.56%.

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.