Isthmus Partners LLC Has $11.21 Million Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Isthmus Partners LLC increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,821 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $11,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 104,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,489,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Zoetis by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,497,000 after purchasing an additional 351,372 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 344.8% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 5,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,010 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter valued at $1,431,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $170.34 on Monday. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.74.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate 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.