Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Invests $685,000 in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 4,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $685,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ZTS. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 482.8% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 5,533.3% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $214.40.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $146.78 on Thursday. 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 has a market capitalization of $65.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $161.02 and a 200-day moving average of $170.60. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.70 and a 12 month high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 sale, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Zoetis 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.