Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Cypress Capital Group

Cypress Capital Group cut its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,458 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,450 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 13,726.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,524,000 after buying an additional 4,829,815 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 296.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,917,000 after buying an additional 665,331 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,266,000 after buying an additional 572,511 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,809,000. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,835,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Zoetis Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE ZTS opened at $169.79 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $166.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.06. The company has a market capitalization of $76.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

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.