Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lowered its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,988 shares of the company’s stock after selling 714 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Callahan Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after buying an additional 6,221 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Zoetis by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,617,000 after buying an additional 46,050 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic increased its holdings in Zoetis by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,764,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in Zoetis by 2,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,904,000 after buying an additional 28,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ZTS shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One 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, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.90.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $162.86 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $166.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.47. The firm has a market cap of $72.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

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.