Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt Acquires New Shares in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 514,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,835,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 90.4% in the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,764,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Zoetis by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,617,000 after acquiring an additional 46,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in Zoetis by 2,050.0% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,904,000 after acquiring an additional 28,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ZTS. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value 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. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $164.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $166.22 and a 200-day moving average of $177.58. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.53. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.56%.

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.