King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 193,532 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management cut its Zoetis stake by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 193,532 shares and leaving it with 850,931 shares worth about $107.1 million.
• Insiders bought shares in May, including directors Paul Bisaro and Frank A. Damelio, who together purchased 8,650 shares; insiders have bought 11,650 shares over the last 90 days.
• Zoetis reported mixed fundamentals and sentiment: Q1 EPS of $1.53 missed estimates, revenue came in slightly below expectations, and the stock traded around $80.36 while analysts maintained a consensus Hold rating.

King Luther Capital Management Corp lowered its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 850,931 shares of the company's stock after selling 193,532 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned about 0.19% of Zoetis worth $107,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,780,974 shares of the company's stock worth $6,011,802,000 after acquiring an additional 5,474,210 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,932,787 shares of the company's stock worth $622,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,179,578 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 14.6% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,312,779 shares of the company's stock worth $631,046,000 after acquiring an additional 550,859 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 13.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,241,357 shares of the company's stock worth $620,595,000 after acquiring an additional 496,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fundsmith LLP boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 25.3% in the third quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 3,615,131 shares of the company's stock worth $528,966,000 after acquiring an additional 730,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other news, Director Paul Bisaro acquired 2,000 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $75.88 per share, with a total value of $151,760.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 27,862 shares in the company, valued at $2,114,168.56. This trade represents a 7.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frank A. Damelio acquired 6,650 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $75.39 per share, with a total value of $501,343.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 21,458 shares in the company, valued at $1,617,718.62. The trade was a 44.91% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 11,650 shares of company stock valued at $886,384. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.2%

Zoetis stock opened at $80.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.87. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.38 and a 12 month high of $172.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.07). Zoetis had a net margin of 27.80% and a return on equity of 66.85%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.850-7.000 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ZTS shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Zoetis from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Zoetis from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $130.00 to $99.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Zoetis from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.92.

About Zoetis

Zoetis Inc NYSE: ZTS is a global animal health company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of products and services for companion animals and livestock. The company's offerings include pharmaceuticals, vaccines and biologics, parasiticides and anti-infectives, as well as diagnostic instruments, consumables and laboratory testing services. Zoetis serves the veterinary community, livestock producers and other animal-health customers with products designed to prevent, detect and treat disease and to support animal productivity and welfare.

Zoetis traces its roots to the animal health business of Pfizer and became an independent, publicly traded company following a 2013 separation and initial public offering.

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