Prudential PLC Grows Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Prudential PLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,546 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,327 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $24,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 419.1% during the fourth quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 12,157 shares of the company's stock worth $1,981,000 after acquiring an additional 9,815 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 43.8% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 680 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 296,921 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,377,000 after acquiring an additional 29,390 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 74.0% during the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 38,793 shares of the company's stock worth $6,320,000 after acquiring an additional 4,557 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $215.90.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This trade represents a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,244.30. This trade 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of ZTS stock traded down $1.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $142.52. 1,333,476 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,600,971. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.65 and a 1 year high of $200.33. The firm has a market cap of $63.82 billion, a PE ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92. The company's 50 day moving average is $164.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.