abrdn plc Cuts Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

abrdn plc cut its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,105,420 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,055 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned 0.25% of Zoetis worth $179,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 11,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 18,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,628,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.00.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE ZTS opened at $171.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.57 billion, a PE ratio of 32.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

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.