Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Purchased by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 215,508 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,815 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $35,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,864,488,000 after purchasing an additional 95,856 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,030,813,000 after acquiring an additional 185,364 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,541 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,561,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $906,202,000 after acquiring an additional 433,429 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 5.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,896,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $761,221,000 after acquiring an additional 194,542 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ZTS shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Zoetis Price Performance

Zoetis stock opened at $163.15 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $166.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.67. The company has a market cap of $73.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.56%.

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.