Empower Advisory Group LLC Grows Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,761 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 213 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 105,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,594,000 after buying an additional 20,001 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 104,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,489,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 55,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,882,000 after buying an additional 4,107 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 128.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.90.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE ZTS opened at $156.92 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $70.27 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $167.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.29. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.06 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.