Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 248,131 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 1,269.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 267,679 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 248,131 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.06% of Zoetis worth $43,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 104,866 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,489,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Zoetis by 17.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company's stock worth $464,497,000 after buying an additional 351,372 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Zoetis by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,051 shares of the company's stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,078,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 176.9% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 40,589 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,930,000 after acquiring an additional 25,931 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other news, 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 value of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

ZTS traded down $4.16 on Thursday, reaching $159.34. The stock had a trading volume of 3,275,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,602,291. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $166.20 and a 200-day moving average of $173.98. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.33. The company has a market capitalization of $71.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is 36.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ZTS shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $215.90.

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.