268 Shares in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Bought by Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 90.4% during the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after purchasing an additional 6,221 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 valued at $38,617,000 after acquiring an additional 46,050 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth $1,764,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in Zoetis by 2,050.0% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,904,000 after acquiring an additional 28,700 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Zoetis stock opened at $165.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $166.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.87. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.33. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given 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 1.21%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.90.

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.