Scott & Selber Inc. Decreases Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Scott & Selber Inc. decreased its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,580 shares of the company’s stock after selling 289 shares during the quarter. Scott & Selber Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 0.8% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 104,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,489,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC bought a new position in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. Optas LLC purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 3.2% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 103,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE ZTS opened at $170.47 on Tuesday. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.33. 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 market capitalization of $76.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.16.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. Equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.