Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Trims Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lessened its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,946,708 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,739 shares during the quarter. Zoetis accounts for about 2.2% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $317,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,739,905,000 after acquiring an additional 120,158 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Zoetis by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,864,488,000 after purchasing an additional 95,856 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,030,813,000 after buying an additional 185,364 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,237,000 after buying an additional 1,116,541 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.2 %

ZTS stock opened at $163.03 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $166.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.67. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.33. The company has a market cap of $73.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Zoetis news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.