Amalgamated Bank Trims Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 92,437 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,344 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $15,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after buying an additional 4,829,815 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 296.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,917,000 after purchasing an additional 665,331 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Zoetis by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,266,000 after purchasing an additional 572,511 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Zoetis during the third quarter worth $110,809,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Zoetis by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,561,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $906,202,000 after purchasing an additional 433,429 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on 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 Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $168.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $166.26 and its 200-day moving average is $177.66.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. Equities analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.