Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $90.61 Million Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 29.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 556,295 shares of the company’s stock after selling 227,447 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Zoetis worth $90,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,739,905,000 after purchasing an additional 120,158 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,617,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,726,075,000 after buying an additional 190,137 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,237,000 after buying an additional 1,116,541 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Zoetis by 78.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,133,755,000 after acquiring an additional 3,059,255 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,561,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $906,202,000 after purchasing an additional 433,429 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $55,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,682,770. This trade represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Zoetis Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of ZTS opened at $151.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $67.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.74, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.43. 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 (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 net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ZTS. Barclays upped 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. UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

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.