Trexquant Investment LP Invests $27.46 Million in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 168,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,457,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $164.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $166.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.26. The stock has a market cap of $73.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.33.

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. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Equities research 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. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Zoetis news, 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. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ZTS shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

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.