Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Sells 2,619 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lowered its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 65.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,366 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,619 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 120,158 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 95,856 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,219,237,000 after buying an additional 1,116,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 433,429 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ZTS shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $161.29 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $72.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.02.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

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.