New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 700 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lowered its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,575 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 105,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,594,000 after buying an additional 20,001 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4,582.9% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 90,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,663,000 after buying an additional 7,170 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at $321,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 1,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Zoetis Trading Down 4.5 %

Zoetis stock opened at $157.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $168.51 and a 200 day moving average of $178.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $200.53. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. As a group, research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 36.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on ZTS shares. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $214.90.

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.