Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,398,717 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,314 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.53% of Zoetis worth $390,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Zoetis by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,864,488,000 after acquiring an additional 95,856 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,030,813,000 after purchasing an additional 185,364 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 5.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,896,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $761,221,000 after purchasing an additional 194,542 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 10.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,834,000 after purchasing an additional 279,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $214.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 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 trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $157.54 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $168.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.79.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 37.59%.

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.