Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 227,447 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 29.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 556,295 shares of the company’s stock after selling 227,447 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $90,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. VeraBank N.A. increased its stake in Zoetis by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Trading Down 4.9 %

ZTS opened at $151.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $67.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.92. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $165.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.43. 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 issued 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 net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 36.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.