Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 3,188 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,933 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,188 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings in Zoetis were worth $7,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $950,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,829,815 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 296.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $144,917,000 after acquiring an additional 665,331 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company's stock valued at $336,266,000 after acquiring an additional 572,511 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter valued at approximately $110,809,000. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,835,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $215.90.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.8 %

ZTS traded up $3.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $170.34. The company had a trading volume of 3,296,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,274,650. The company has a market capitalization of $76.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.33. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $166.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

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.