Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 686 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lowered its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,766 shares of the company’s stock after selling 686 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 275.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,259,000 after acquiring an additional 70,476 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter worth about $11,684,000. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Zoetis in the 1st quarter worth about $688,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Asia Ltd. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Asia Ltd. now owns 37,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,501,000 after buying an additional 10,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 56.2% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,946,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,407,000 after buying an additional 700,398 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ZTS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Argus upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.44.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $176.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.73 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $201.92. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $185.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.45.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

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

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.