Lincoln National Corp Raises Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Lincoln National Corp raised its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 167.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,637 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,547 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp's holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fielder Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in Zoetis by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 20,593 shares of the company's stock worth $4,064,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in Zoetis by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 36,034 shares of the company's stock worth $7,112,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 26,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,249,000 after acquiring an additional 8,369 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 25,539 shares of the company's stock worth $4,811,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.17, for a total transaction of $139,529.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,237,316. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,209 shares of company stock worth $371,293. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock traded down $1.12 on Monday, hitting $165.95. 3,080,329 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,177,335. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $201.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 3.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.86.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 50.34%. Zoetis's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.432 dividend. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Zoetis's payout ratio is 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Zoetis from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $195.00 price target (down from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $223.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.38.

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.

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