Summit Financial LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Summit Financial LLC reduced its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,875 shares of the company’s stock after selling 354 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 482.8% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 5,533.3% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth $58,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’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 value of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ZTS shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $161.77 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $166.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.05. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.33. The firm has a market cap of $72.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

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.