M&G PLC Sells 26,464 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

M&G PLC lowered its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 9.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 259,651 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,464 shares during the quarter. M&G PLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $18,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Balefire LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Financial Solutions Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Solutions Advisory Group Inc. now owns 15,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, 71 West Capital Partners boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. 71 West Capital Partners now owns 2,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $82.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.67. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.77 and a 1 year high of $132.49.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.24. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.15% and a return on equity of 85.90%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 36.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Zoetis from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Zoetis from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $94.00 target price on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $112.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.25.

Zoetis Company Profile

Zoetis is an animal health company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets medicines, vaccines, diagnostic products and other services for animals. Its products support both companion animals, such as dogs and cats, and livestock, including cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep and fish. The company’s offerings include treatments for pain, infections and skin conditions, as well as vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostic tools and genetic testing services. Zoetis serves veterinarians, livestock producers and other animal health professionals around the world.