Ecofi Investissements SA Boosts Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Ecofi Investissements SA increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 66.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 51,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,300 shares during the period. Zoetis accounts for about 4.8% of Ecofi Investissements SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Ecofi Investissements SA’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $7,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Zoetis by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,739,905,000 after purchasing an additional 120,158 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,617,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,726,075,000 after acquiring an additional 190,137 shares in the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,541 shares during the last quarter. 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Zoetis by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,561,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $906,202,000 after acquiring an additional 433,429 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $148.64 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $160.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.96. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.70 and a 1-year high of $200.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $66.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $214.40.

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.