Virtu Financial LLC Decreases Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Virtu Financial LLC cut its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 81.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,799 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,120 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 1st quarter valued at $339,111,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4,158.3% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,824,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,481,000 after buying an additional 1,782,110 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 14,731.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,759,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,666,000 after buying an additional 1,747,423 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 8,796,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,448,401,000 after buying an additional 1,313,653 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at $178,688,000. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $147.34 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $65.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $156.71 and its 200 day moving average is $159.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.70 and a 52-week high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.83% and a return on equity of 56.90%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 34.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Leerink Partners lowered Zoetis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.63.

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.