Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Has $2.18 Million Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lessened its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 48.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,395 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,464 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $785,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 98,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,081,000 after buying an additional 18,476 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,695,000. Chapman Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,210,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth about $79,041,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $149.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $66.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, 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 52 week low of $139.70 and a 52 week high of $200.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.69.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 36.56%.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $216.44.

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.