Virtue Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Virtue Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,109 shares of the company’s stock after selling 76 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Callahan Advisors LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 90.4% in the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after buying an additional 6,221 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Zoetis by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,617,000 after buying an additional 46,050 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in Zoetis by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 245,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,036,000 after purchasing an additional 6,169 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Zoetis by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,739,905,000 after purchasing an additional 120,158 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in Zoetis by 2,050.0% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,904,000 after purchasing an additional 28,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on ZTS shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.75.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:ZTS opened at $162.92 on Tuesday. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.70 and a fifty-two week high of $200.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.68.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors 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 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at $2,682,770. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.