State of Michigan Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 127,964 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,600 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings in Zoetis were worth $20,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,186 shares of the company's stock worth $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,645 shares of the company's stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,938 shares of the company's stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,969 shares of the company's stock worth $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, LGT Group Foundation increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 82,702 shares of the company's stock worth $13,475,000 after purchasing an additional 10,355 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.
ZTS traded down $2.94 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $166.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,667,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,280,360. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $166.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.52, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.
Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis's payout ratio is 36.56%.
In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.
A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.90.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on 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.
Before you consider Zoetis, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Zoetis wasn't on the list.
While Zoetis currently has a Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.