Investment House LLC Sells 1,298 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Investment House LLC reduced its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,876 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,298 shares during the period. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $14,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 21,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 156,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,181 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 106,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,424,000 after acquiring an additional 2,814 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,457,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,812,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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 target on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $164.28 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $166.83 and its 200-day moving average is $175.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 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 issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.