Teacher Retirement System of Texas Decreases Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 40.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 155,285 shares of the company's stock after selling 106,470 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Zoetis were worth $25,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 245,726 shares of the company's stock worth $40,036,000 after buying an additional 6,169 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company's stock worth $6,739,905,000 after acquiring an additional 120,158 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,550,000 after purchasing an additional 6,672 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $37,298,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 431,899 shares of the company's stock worth $70,371,000 after purchasing an additional 62,025 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $212.13.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.1%

ZTS opened at $159.19 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $139.70 and a one year high of $200.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.91. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $161.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.20.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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