HUB Investment Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,373 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $196,651,000. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,541 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,748,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,355,000 after acquiring an additional 867,993 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 296.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,917,000 after acquiring an additional 665,331 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,266,000 after acquiring an additional 572,511 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS stock opened at $162.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.47.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio 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.