Short Interest in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Drops By 20.9%

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,510,000 shares, a decline of 20.9% from the February 13th total of 8,230,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zoetis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,739,905,000 after acquiring an additional 120,158 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Zoetis by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,864,488,000 after buying an additional 95,856 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,617,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,726,075,000 after buying an additional 190,137 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,237,000 after buying an additional 1,116,541 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 78.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059,255 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS traded up $2.70 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $163.96. 544,453 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,532,101. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. Zoetis has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.33. The company’s 50-day moving average is $166.82 and its 200-day moving average is $176.10.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Analysts expect that Zoetis will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

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 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 36.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ZTS. UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Leerink Partners began coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

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.