Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Bought by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1,269.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 267,679 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 248,131 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.06% of Zoetis worth $43,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ZTS. L & S Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 15,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,591,000 after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. Tsai Capital Corp lifted its stake in Zoetis by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Tsai Capital Corp now owns 14,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,899,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,186,000. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 83,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,257 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This trade represents a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 transaction of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 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 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

ZTS stock opened at $161.77 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $166.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.05. The firm has a market cap of $72.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on ZTS. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Barclays increased their price objective on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.