Foundry Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS – Get Rating) by 12.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,122 shares of the company’s stock after selling 733 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,067,881,000. Castleview Partners LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,000,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Zoetis by 3.7% in the fourth 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. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its holdings in Zoetis by 28.3% in the third quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 5,261,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,021,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $196,317,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.73% of the company’s stock.
In related news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.31, for a total transaction of $301,085.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 2,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.96, for a total value of $387,806.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,239,025.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
ZTS stock opened at $174.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $168.99 and a 200-day moving average of $191.94. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.18 and a fifty-two week high of $249.27.
Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 5th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 49.62% and a net margin of 26.27%. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.05 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 20th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.82%.
ZTS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Zoetis from $275.00 to $225.00 in a report on Friday. Citigroup lowered their price target on Zoetis from $232.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Zoetis from $237.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.75.
Zoetis Profile (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
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Source: defenseworld.net
