Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd Purchases 12,035 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd raised its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 5,623.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,249 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,035 shares during the period. Zoetis makes up 2.6% of Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Callahan Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 90.4% during the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after buying an additional 6,221 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,617,000 after buying an additional 46,050 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,764,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 2,050.0% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,904,000 after buying an additional 28,700 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction 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 approximately $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $162.86 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $166.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.56%.

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.