Marshall Wace LLP Sells 24,298 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Marshall Wace LLP cut its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 788,429 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,298 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.17% of Zoetis worth $128,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Callahan Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 90.4% during the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company's stock worth $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 6,221 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,617,000 after buying an additional 46,050 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in Zoetis by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,764,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Zoetis by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 245,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,036,000 after acquiring an additional 6,169 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.1 %

Zoetis stock traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $146.52. 632,118 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,530,299. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.70 and a twelve month high of $200.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $160.04 and a 200-day moving average of $169.66. The company has a market cap of $65.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92. 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 results 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 return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays raised their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.16% 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.