Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Sells 337 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,006 shares of the company’s stock after selling 337 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 90.4% during the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 6,221 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 46,050 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Zoetis by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 245,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,036,000 after purchasing an additional 6,169 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,764,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Zoetis by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,739,905,000 after buying an additional 120,158 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $159.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $71.37 billion, a PE ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.70 and a 52-week high of $200.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $157.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.06.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $212.13.

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.