Lazard Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,661,639 shares of the company’s stock after selling 203,555 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $433,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ZTS. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its position in Zoetis by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 1.4% in 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, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 420 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ZTS shares. Barclays upped their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.13.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 three months, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $159.96 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $71.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.70 and a 1-year high of $200.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $157.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.95.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. Zoetis’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

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.