Stevens Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 3,366 Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. LPL Financial LLC increased 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 during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. increased 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 during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $25,038,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Zoetis by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 431,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,371,000 after buying an additional 62,025 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,032,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,264,000 after purchasing an additional 113,899 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at $2,682,770. This trade represents a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $162.86 on Monday. 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 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $200.33. The company has a market cap of $72.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.38.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued 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 net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. On average, research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.