Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires 18,670 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 105.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,367 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,670 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $5,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 104,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,489,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 17.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,497,000 after buying an additional 351,372 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP raised its stake in Zoetis by 26.5% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 3,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 2.2% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 8.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 338,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,208,000 after buying an additional 26,789 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.90.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.0 %

Zoetis stock opened at $160.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $166.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.33. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.56%.

Zoetis 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.