Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS – Get Rating) by 20.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,295 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,389 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 40,315,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,838,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427,812 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Zoetis by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,994,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,879,289,000 after purchasing an additional 529,974 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 17,663,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,310,381,000 after purchasing an additional 441,440 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,710,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,120,301,000 after purchasing an additional 159,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,360,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,162,000 after acquiring an additional 24,432 shares during the last quarter. 90.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 26th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $232.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Zoetis from $237.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.43.
Zoetis stock opened at $164.21 on Thursday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.18 and a 1-year high of $249.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $169.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.
Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 5th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.10. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.27% and a return on equity of 49.62%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.05 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 20th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 29.82%.
In other Zoetis news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,855 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.31, for a total value of $301,085.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,100,786.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 2,167 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.96, for a total transaction of $387,806.32. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,239,025.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
About Zoetis (Get Rating)
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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ZTS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS – Get Rating).
Receive News & Ratings for Zoetis Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Zoetis and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.
Source: defenseworld.net
