Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 38.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 165,149 shares of the company's stock after selling 104,457 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $27,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at about $824,321,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Zoetis by 78.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,133,755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059,255 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the first quarter worth approximately $339,111,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 worth $289,666,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at $178,688,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $110,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:ZTS traded down $1.29 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $147.31. 2,996,578 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,624,290. The stock has a market cap of $65.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.91. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.70 and a twelve month high of $200.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $160.77 and a 200 day moving average of $161.42.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 55.48% and a net margin of 27.12%. Zoetis's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is 35.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ZTS. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.63.

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.