Great Lakes Advisors LLC Has $5.93 Million Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 105.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,367 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,670 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $5,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 606.8% during the 4th quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 209,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,152,000 after acquiring an additional 12,805 shares during the period. Natural Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $524,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 21,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,472,000 after purchasing an additional 4,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clare Market Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $670,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of ZTS opened at $160.03 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.33. The company has a market cap of $71.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. 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. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.90.

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.