Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Lowers Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 55.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,836,353 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,289,668 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.41% of Zoetis worth $299,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,739,905,000 after buying an additional 120,158 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,617,897 shares of the company's stock worth $1,726,075,000 after acquiring an additional 190,137 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,219,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,541 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 78.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,059,255 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Zoetis by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,561,910 shares of the company's stock worth $906,202,000 after purchasing an additional 433,429 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE ZTS traded up $1.96 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $155.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,065,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,497,114. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.70 and a fifty-two week high of $200.33. The company has a market cap of $69.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $158.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.07.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.