Norges Bank Makes New $824.32 Million Investment in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,059,355 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $824,321,000. Norges Bank owned 1.12% of Zoetis at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ZTS. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 104,866 shares of the company's stock worth $20,489,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Zoetis by 17.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company's stock valued at $464,497,000 after buying an additional 351,372 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Zoetis by 4.3% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 25,979 shares of the company's stock worth $5,076,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 40.1% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,699 shares of the company's stock worth $1,113,000 after buying an additional 1,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 383.1% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 67,517 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,191,000 after acquiring an additional 53,540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded 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 assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ZTS stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $164.39. 574,637 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,973,250. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $166.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.26. The company has a market capitalization of $73.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.