Bank of Montreal Can Sells 151,147 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Bank of Montreal Can cut its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 833,459 shares of the company's stock after selling 151,147 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.18% of Zoetis worth $135,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at about $824,321,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Zoetis by 78.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,133,755,000 after acquiring an additional 3,059,255 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $196,651,000. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,219,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,541 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Zoetis by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,748,719 shares of the company's stock worth $453,355,000 after purchasing an additional 867,993 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the firm's 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ZTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Finally, 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 note on Friday, February 14th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $215.90.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE ZTS traded up $2.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $149.40. 2,850,492 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,588,450. The firm has a market cap of $66.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.31, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $162.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.70 and a 12-month high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis's payout ratio is 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.