J. Stern & Co. LLP Increases Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 213,710 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,757 shares during the period. Zoetis makes up approximately 3.3% of J. Stern & Co. LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. J. Stern & Co. LLP’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $34,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Callahan Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 90.4% in the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 6,221 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Zoetis by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,617,000 after purchasing an additional 46,050 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 245,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,036,000 after buying an additional 6,169 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,764,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $151.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $159.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.10. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.70 and a fifty-two week high of $200.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.41 billion, a PE ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Equities analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ZTS. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $214.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In related news, 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 have sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.