Virtue Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Virtue Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 8.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,185 shares of the company’s stock after selling 205 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its stake in Zoetis by 546.3% in the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,253,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,682,000 after buying an additional 1,904,899 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 41,235.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,652,000 after acquiring an additional 937,700 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 7,608.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 835,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,874,000 after acquiring an additional 824,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 56.2% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,946,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,407,000 after acquiring an additional 700,398 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ZTS. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $216.70.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $177.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $201.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.16. The stock has a market cap of $79.93 billion, a PE ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.432 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

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.