Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Bought by Sandy Spring Bank

Sandy Spring Bank raised its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 69,706 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $11,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 482.8% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in Zoetis by 5,533.3% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 80.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.90.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

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

Zoetis Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $163.76 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $166.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.75. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.33. The company has a market capitalization of $73.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.94, 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 (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

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.