Simplify Asset Management Inc. Makes New $207,000 Investment in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS – Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,411 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Zoetis by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,550,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,420,101,000 after buying an additional 315,032 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,803,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,936,590,000 after purchasing an additional 83,221 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.2% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 19,102,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,832,652,000 after purchasing an additional 408,379 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4.0% in the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,406,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,548,588,000 after purchasing an additional 395,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.3% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,362,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,628,000 after purchasing an additional 43,387 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 4,338 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $763,227.72. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,637,250.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

ZTS traded down $0.21 on Friday, reaching $165.03. The company had a trading volume of 844,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,010,903. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.60. The company has a market cap of $76.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 3.27. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.15 and a 52-week high of $187.82.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 25.59% and a return on equity of 50.26%. Zoetis’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 20th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on ZTS shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.14.

Zoetis Profile

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Zoetis, Inc engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of medicines, vaccines, diagnostic products and services, biodevices, genetic tests, and precision animal health technology. The firm operates through the United States and International geographical segments. The United States segment is involved in U.S.