Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 46.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,643 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,111 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Callahan Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company's stock worth $2,135,000 after buying an additional 6,221 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company's stock worth $38,617,000 after purchasing an additional 46,050 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 245,726 shares of the company's stock worth $40,036,000 after acquiring an additional 6,169 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth about $1,764,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 120,158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.1 %

Zoetis stock traded down $1.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $159.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,243,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,491,043. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $157.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.22. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.70 and a 52-week high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. Zoetis's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

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.