Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 4,491 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,685 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,491 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 23.4% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 105,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,594,000 after purchasing an additional 20,001 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 104,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,489,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,440,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Traynor Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth $201,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 1,387.5% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.40.

Zoetis Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE ZTS opened at $164.99 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $166.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. 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 1.21%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 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.