Diligent Investors LLC Sells 91 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Diligent Investors LLC decreased its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,465 shares of the company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth $824,321,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Zoetis by 78.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,133,755,000 after acquiring an additional 3,059,255 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the first quarter worth $339,111,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 14,731.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,759,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,666,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747,423 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth $196,651,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,682,770. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 value of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 2,188 shares of company stock valued at $367,289 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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 research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.75.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $168.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.70 and a 52-week high of $200.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.46.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 35.91%.

Zoetis 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.