Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Stake Lifted by LGT Group Foundation

LGT Group Foundation increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,702 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,355 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $13,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 6,221 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic boosted 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 valued at $1,825,000 after acquiring 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 boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,617,000 after buying an additional 46,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 2,050.0% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,904,000 after buying an additional 28,700 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ZTS. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $167.58 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $75.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 36.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.