Harbour Investments Inc. Cuts Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Harbour Investments Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,414 shares of the company’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ZTS. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at about $196,651,000. Amundi grew its stake in Zoetis by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,748,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,355,000 after acquiring an additional 867,993 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Zoetis by 296.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,917,000 after acquiring an additional 665,331 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Zoetis by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,266,000 after acquiring an additional 572,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,809,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This trade represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $162.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $166.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.52. 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 $200.33. The firm has a market cap of $72.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued 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 yield of 1.23%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ZTS. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating 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 issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.