Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Bought by Florida Financial Advisors LLC

Florida Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,563 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 239 shares during the quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,739,905,000 after acquiring an additional 120,158 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,864,488,000 after purchasing an additional 95,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,030,813,000 after purchasing an additional 185,364 shares in the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,237,000 after buying an additional 1,116,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Zoetis by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,561,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $906,202,000 after buying an additional 433,429 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target 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, Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.90.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $161.29 on Wednesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $166.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.02. 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 has a market capitalization of $72.22 billion, a PE ratio of 29.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’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 $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Zoetis Company 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.