Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 3,040 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 165,690 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,040 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $26,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ZTS. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Zoetis in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in Zoetis by 273.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $166.64 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.89. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 37.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ZTS shares. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.89.

About Zoetis

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.