Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 465,369 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,590 shares during the quarter. Zoetis comprises 1.5% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $75,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Holderness Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 4,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in Zoetis by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 12,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth $280,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 34,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,606,000 after buying an additional 9,471 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the subject of several research reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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 upped their price target on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS stock opened at $163.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.67. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $200.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.06 billion, a PE ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 36.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This trade represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This represents 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 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.