Alberta Investment Management Corp Lowers Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Alberta Investment Management Corp lessened its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 87.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,400 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 24.7% during the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,550,000 after acquiring an additional 6,672 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Zoetis by 100.3% during the first quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 395,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,140,000 after acquiring an additional 198,089 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 31.2% during the first quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the first quarter valued at about $380,000. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 117.6% during the first quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 3,791 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Leerink Partners downgraded Zoetis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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 downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.63.

Zoetis Trading Up 3.3%

NYSE:ZTS opened at $152.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.74. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $139.70 and a one year high of $200.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.26. The stock has a market cap of $67.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.88.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 55.48% and a net margin of 27.12%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 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.