Rothschild Investment LLC Cuts Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Rothschild Investment LLC lowered its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,829 shares of the company’s stock after selling 258 shares during the quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Zoetis by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 335,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,707,000 after purchasing an additional 22,637 shares during the last quarter. New World Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 3,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,530,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $898,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $168.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.66. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.50 billion, a PE ratio of 30.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.56%.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.40.

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.