Mitchell Capital Management Co. Reduces Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Mitchell Capital Management Co. lessened its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,476 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,390 shares during the quarter. Zoetis comprises about 1.0% of Mitchell Capital Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Mitchell Capital Management Co.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $5,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after buying an additional 6,221 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,764,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,617,000 after buying an additional 46,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,904,000 after buying an additional 28,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ZTS. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.6 %

Zoetis stock opened at $167.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $75.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $166.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.30.

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

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

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.