UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Cuts Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp trimmed its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 74,516 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,712 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $12,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 282,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,077,000 after acquiring an additional 30,407 shares in the last quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Zoetis by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Bay Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 26,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,315,000 after purchasing an additional 5,446 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:ZTS opened at $161.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $166.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.02. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 36.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.90.

About Zoetis

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.