Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $6.38 Million Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,181 shares of the company’s stock after selling 714 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $6,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Zoetis by 0.3% in the 4th 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 grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 95,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,030,813,000 after purchasing an additional 185,364 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,541 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Zoetis by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,561,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $906,202,000 after buying an additional 433,429 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Zoetis Price Performance

ZTS stock opened at $163.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $166.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.22. 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ZTS. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.