Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Position Increased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,034 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 384 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $7,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 7.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 93,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,308,000 after purchasing an additional 6,457 shares during the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,776,000. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 108,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,374,000 after purchasing an additional 12,537 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 183,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,230,000 after purchasing an additional 17,976 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 4.0% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 24,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 price target (down from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com cut Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $223.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.38.

Insider Activity

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.33, for a total transaction of $159,983.59. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,267.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,209 shares of company stock valued at $371,293. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.7 %

ZTS traded down $1.12 during trading on Monday, reaching $165.95. The company had a trading volume of 3,080,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,177,335. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $168.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The company has a market cap of $75.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.98, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.86. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $201.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 50.34%. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.77 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Zoetis 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.