Ninety One UK Ltd Cuts Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Ninety One UK Ltd trimmed its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 35.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,097,830 shares of the company's stock after selling 591,061 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd owned 0.25% of Zoetis worth $180,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 5,533.3% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 141.4% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 280 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 614.6% during the first quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 293 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $212.13.

Zoetis Trading Down 2.4%

ZTS stock traded down $3.89 during trading on Friday, reaching $154.91. The company had a trading volume of 2,267,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,591,358. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.70 and a 52 week high of $200.33. The company has a market cap of $68.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.81, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $161.32 and a 200 day moving average of $161.86. 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 (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 55.48%. Zoetis's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $110,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.