Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 1,303 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 8.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,414 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,303 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 94.6% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 2,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 49.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 25,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 8,302 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.5% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 8,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 7.5% in the first quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 4,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Zoetis by 31.1% during the 1st quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Zoetis Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $175.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $187.09 and a 200-day moving average of $180.23. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $201.92. The stock has a market cap of $79.02 billion, a PE ratio of 32.92, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.52%.

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.