Fayez Sarofim & Co Increases Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,174,143 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 143,225 shares during the quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned about 0.26% of Zoetis worth $191,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 482.8% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 5,533.3% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ZTS shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays raised 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. StockNews.com upgraded Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.40.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $153.58. The company had a trading volume of 3,543,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,512,297. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.62. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.70 and a 52-week high of $200.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $68.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. Sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.56%.

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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This trade represents a 2.02 % decrease in their position. 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 company'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 value of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 a total of 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254 in the last 90 days. Company 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.