Sava Infond d.o.o. Buys New Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,980,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.8% in 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Zoetis by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,497,000 after acquiring an additional 351,372 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Zoetis by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 237.3% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 25,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ZTS opened at $162.56 on Thursday. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.94. The company has a market capitalization of $72.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.