Wealth Alliance Cuts Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Wealth Alliance trimmed its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,524 shares of the company’s stock after selling 362 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 18,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,628,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 3.5% in the third quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ZTS. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.90.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:ZTS opened at $156.92 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $70.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.29.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. Analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.06 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

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.