Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Invests $15.70 Million in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 96,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,695,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 17.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,497,000 after purchasing an additional 351,372 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,972,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,834,000 after buying an additional 279,092 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,266,000 after buying an additional 572,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic raised its stake in Zoetis by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS opened at $157.43 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $158.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.05. 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 company has a market capitalization of $70.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.70 and a 1-year high of $200.33.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 36.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays raised their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.40.

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.