Fire Capital Management LLC Invests $1.89 Million in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,886,000. Zoetis comprises 1.4% of Fire Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ZTS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 10.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $569,834,000 after acquiring an additional 279,092 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 180.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 2,978 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the company's stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,353 shares of the company's stock worth $1,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,301 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 52,401 shares of the company's stock worth $8,538,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.75.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS stock traded up $1.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $168.71. The company had a trading volume of 5,467,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,527,041. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $75.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $156.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.50. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $139.70 and a one year high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.91%.

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.