Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 791,517 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,031 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Zoetis were worth $129,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 482.8% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 5,533.3% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 80.6% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In related news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their position. 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 insiders.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $165.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $74.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $166.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.97. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week 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.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

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.