MONECO Advisors LLC Takes $200,000 Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

MONECO Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,344,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,147,730,000 after purchasing an additional 297,044 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Zoetis by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,143,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,068,804,000 after buying an additional 196,771 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Zoetis by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,998,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,744,000 after buying an additional 150,918 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Zoetis by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,026,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,553,000 after buying an additional 91,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in Zoetis by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,428,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,512,000 after buying an additional 32,918 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.33, for a total transaction of $159,983.59. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,267.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 2,209 shares of company stock valued at $371,293 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $167.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market cap of $76.48 billion, a PE ratio of 32.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $169.48 and a 200-day moving average of $178.89. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $201.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.25% and a net margin of 27.43%. Zoetis’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ZTS. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $216.13.

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.