Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lowered its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 30.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,095 shares of the company’s stock after selling 925 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.0% during the third quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% during the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 18,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,628,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 3.5% during the third quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. VeraBank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $156.92 on Thursday. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.27 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $167.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.29.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.06 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ZTS shares. UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $214.90.

Zoetis 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.