Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 577,630 shares of the company's stock after selling 41,016 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned about 0.13% of Zoetis worth $94,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in Zoetis by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,562 shares of the company's stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the company's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company's stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in Zoetis by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business'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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS stock traded up $1.61 on Thursday, reaching $152.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,147,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,520,868. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.70 and a 52 week high of $200.33. 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 company has a market capitalization of $68.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $159.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.10.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The company 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ZTS. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.40.

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.