Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 3,421 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 75,874 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,421 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $12,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 18,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,628,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ZTS shares. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective 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 analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $171.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $76.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.66. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 36.56%.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.