Axiom Investors LLC DE Acquires 52,125 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 490,707 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,125 shares during the quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned 0.11% of Zoetis worth $79,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. VeraBank N.A. boosted its stake in Zoetis by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,562 shares of the company's stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company's stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the firm'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 value of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ZTS shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Zoetis stock traded down $3.84 on Thursday, reaching $159.66. 2,496,866 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,983,359. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $166.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.98.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. On average, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

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.