Empire Life Investments Inc. Sells 5,167 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Key Points

• Empire Life Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in Zoetis Inc. by 4.3%, selling 5,167 shares, leading to a current total of 115,475 shares valued at approximately $19 million.
• A significant portion of Zoetis's stock is held by institutional investors, who own 92.8% of the company, with many adjusting their positions in recent quarters.
• Recent analyst reports indicate a range of ratings for Zoetis, with price targets varying, reflecting mixed sentiments about the company's stock performance.

Empire Life Investments Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115,475 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,167 shares during the quarter. Zoetis comprises approximately 1.2% of Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Zoetis were worth $19,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the first quarter valued at $339,111,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4,158.3% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,824,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,110 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 14,731.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,759,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $289,666,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747,423 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at $178,688,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,426,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,047,052,000 after purchasing an additional 755,893 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ZTS shares. Leerink Partnrs lowered Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Leerink Partners lowered Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.63.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $146.63. 4,986,954 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,700,439. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.16. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.70 and a 52 week high of $200.33. The firm has a market cap of $65.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Zoetis had a return on equity of 57.16% and a net margin of 27.83%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Zoetis's payout ratio is 35.91%.

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.