Marshall Wace LLP Sells 24,298 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Marshall Wace LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 788,429 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,298 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.17% of Zoetis worth $128,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $824,321,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 78.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,133,755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059,255 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $196,651,000. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,541 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Zoetis by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,748,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,355,000 after buying an additional 867,993 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Zoetis stock opened at $149.15 on Wednesday. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.70 and a fifty-two week high of $200.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $161.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.76. The stock has a market cap of $66.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly 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. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at $2,682,770. This trade represents a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $214.40.

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.