Menard Financial Group LLC Buys 201 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,957 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth $87,984,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 11,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $259,000. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX bought a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth about $4,593,000. Finally, American Trust increased its stake in Zoetis by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. American Trust now owns 16,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after buying an additional 1,430 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Zoetis stock opened at $162.92 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.68. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.70 and a 12 month high of $200.33. The company has a market cap of $72.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.91%.

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.