Insider Selling: Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Director Sells 1,210 Shares of Stock

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $161.74 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.33. The company has a market capitalization of $72.43 billion, a PE ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average of $166.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.44.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 36.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zoetis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $6,739,905,000 after buying an additional 120,158 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,864,488,000 after buying an additional 95,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% in the fourth 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 raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 17.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,116,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 78.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,755,000 after buying an additional 3,059,255 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ZTS shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

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.