Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Johnson Financial Group Inc.

Johnson Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 50.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 958 shares of the company’s stock after selling 974 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Callahan Advisors LLC lifted its position in Zoetis by 90.4% during the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 6,221 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Zoetis by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,617,000 after acquiring an additional 46,050 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its position in Zoetis by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Zoetis by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 245,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,036,000 after acquiring an additional 6,169 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,764,000. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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 increased their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.40.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $153.58 on Monday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.70 and a 1-year high of $200.33. The company has a market capitalization of $68.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $158.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 36.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.