Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Grows Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 100,789 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $17,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 222.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 371.4% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its stake in Zoetis by 89.1% during the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ZTS. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $230.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $223.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down previously from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.75.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.17, for a total value of $139,529.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,237,316. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Zoetis stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $182.47. 1,212,062 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,866,740. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50 day moving average of $172.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.88. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $201.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 50.34%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 18th will be paid a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 18th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

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.