FourThought Financial Partners LLC Acquires 131 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,249 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,561,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $906,202,000 after buying an additional 433,429 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at about $515,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in Zoetis by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 100,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,393,000 after acquiring an additional 32,833 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 2,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,635,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ZTS shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.40.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 3.1 %

NYSE:ZTS opened at $165.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.78. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $74.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.26, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.56%.

About Zoetis

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.