Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Has $232.38 Million Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,426,227 shares of the company’s stock after selling 159,936 shares during the period. Zoetis makes up about 1.1% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $232,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $824,321,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3,059,255 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $196,651,000. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,541 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Zoetis by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,748,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,355,000 after purchasing an additional 867,993 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $148.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $66.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.17, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92. 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 fifty-two week low of $139.70 and a fifty-two week high of $200.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.96.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results 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 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ZTS. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $214.40.

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.