Parthenon LLC Lowers Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Parthenon LLC lessened its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,558 shares of the company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 2.0% during the third quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its stake in Zoetis by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 18,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,628,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 4.1% in 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. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $214.90.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $156.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $167.29 and a 200 day moving average of $178.29. The company has a market capitalization of $70.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its 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 firm 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

Zoetis Company 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.