Natural Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 3,221 Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Natural Investments LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $524,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in Zoetis by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 21,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,472,000 after buying an additional 4,546 shares during the period. Clare Market Investments LLC bought a new position in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at $670,000. Vista Investment Partners II LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth about $1,879,000. Morton Community Bank increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Morton Community Bank now owns 16,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Zoetis by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS opened at $164.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $166.94 and a 200-day moving average of $176.55. 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 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.33. The company has a market cap of $73.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 sold a total of 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ZTS. UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.90.

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.