First Manhattan CO. LLC. Trims Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. lowered its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,362 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,655 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Zoetis by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,739,905,000 after acquiring an additional 120,158 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,617,897 shares of the company's stock worth $1,726,075,000 after buying an additional 190,137 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,219,237,000 after buying an additional 1,116,541 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Zoetis by 78.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company's stock worth $1,133,755,000 after buying an additional 3,059,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Zoetis by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,426,394 shares of the company's stock worth $1,047,052,000 after buying an additional 755,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.75.

Zoetis Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE:ZTS traded down $5.64 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $154.77. The stock had a trading volume of 3,473,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,507,354. The firm's fifty day moving average is $157.03 and its 200 day moving average is $165.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.70 and a 52 week high of $200.33. The stock has a market cap of $68.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. Zoetis's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% 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.