State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. Reduces Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. sold 118,607 shares of Zoetis Inc. in the first quarter, reducing its position by 0.7%, leaving it with over 15.8 million shares valued at approximately $2.62 billion.
• Several equities analysts have downgraded Zoetis, with target prices for the stock being revised down to as low as $155.00, while others have maintained a "buy" rating with a consensus target price of $202.43.
• Zoetis recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, reflecting a 1.3% yield and a payout ratio of 34.42%.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. lessened its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,892,903 shares of the company's stock after selling 118,607 shares during the period. Zoetis comprises about 2.4% of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. owned 3.56% of Zoetis worth $2,616,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 24.7% in the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,709 shares of the company's stock worth $5,550,000 after buying an additional 6,672 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Zoetis by 100.3% during the first quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 395,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,140,000 after buying an additional 198,089 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 31.2% during the first quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,394 shares of the company's stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis during the first quarter worth about $380,000. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 117.6% during the first quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the company's stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ZTS. Leerink Partners lowered Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.43.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE:ZTS traded down $1.83 on Monday, reaching $152.28. 2,158,515 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,678,922. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.03. The firm has a market cap of $67.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.88. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.70 and a 12 month high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Zoetis had a return on equity of 56.90% and a net margin of 27.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.42%.

Zoetis Company 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.