Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lowered its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 25.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,681 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,225 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $2,776,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $2,159,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,716,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,707,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,244,074 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 108,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,374,000 after purchasing an additional 12,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 183,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,230,000 after purchasing an additional 17,976 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $223.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down previously from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, HSBC cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $230.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.17, for a total transaction of $139,529.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,237,316. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $170.94 on Thursday. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $201.92. The company has a market cap of $78.00 billion, a PE ratio of 32.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.00.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.04. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 50.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.76 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.432 per share. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 18th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.14%.

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.