Pictet North America Advisors SA lowered its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 11.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,166 shares of the company’s stock after selling 943 shares during the quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 128.6% during the 1st quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 160 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Graves Light Private Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Hoover Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 86.73% of the company’s stock.
ZTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $166.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 13th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 7th. Citigroup Inc. 3% Minimum Coupon Principal Protected Based Upon Russell raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $175.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 18th. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $197.00 to $203.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $175.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $180.67.
Shares of NYSE ZTS traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $175.20. The stock had a trading volume of 3,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,976,777. The firm has a market cap of $83.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.40 and a twelve month high of $178.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 2.47 and a current ratio of 3.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $169.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.35.
Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 6th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 25.30% and a return on equity of 55.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.
In other news, EVP Robert Edward Kelly sold 2,055 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.05, for a total value of $324,792.75. Also, EVP Heidi C. Chen sold 11,637 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total transaction of $1,979,919.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,173,019.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,692 shares of company stock valued at $3,319,012 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Zoetis Profile
Zoetis Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and commercializes animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products in the United States and internationally. It commercializes products primarily across species, including livestock, such as cattle, swine, poultry, fish, and sheep; and companion animals comprising dogs, cats, and horses.
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