New England Research & Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

New England Research & Management Inc. lessened its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,618 shares of the company’s stock after selling 325 shares during the period. Zoetis comprises about 2.1% of New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 5,533.3% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on ZTS shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $212.75.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $164.27 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.70 and a 1 year high of $200.33. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 35.91%.

Zoetis 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.