Parallel Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Parallel Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 37,017 shares of the company’s stock after selling 766 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $6,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Callahan Advisors LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 90.4% during the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 6,221 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,617,000 after buying an additional 46,050 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth about $1,764,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 2,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,904,000 after buying an additional 28,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ZTS. StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $161.33 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $166.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

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.