Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Heritage Investors Management Corp

Heritage Investors Management Corp cut its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 178,767 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,777 shares during the period. Zoetis accounts for 1.2% of Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $34,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 24.5% during the first quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,211,000 after buying an additional 3,738 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in Zoetis by 58.6% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 41,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,095,000 after purchasing an additional 15,491 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP raised its position in Zoetis by 43.7% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 40,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,877,000 after purchasing an additional 12,359 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the first quarter valued at $19,819,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Zoetis by 275.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,259,000 after purchasing an additional 70,476 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Argus upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.44.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE ZTS traded down $0.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $174.34. 194,038 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,505,168. The company has a 50 day moving average of $188.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $201.92. The firm has a market cap of $78.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.67% and a net margin of 26.29%. Zoetis’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.432 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

About Zoetis

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.