Sapient Capital LLC Sells 101 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Sapient Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,557 shares of the company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Callahan Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,617,000 after buying an additional 46,050 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 245,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,036,000 after buying an additional 6,169 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,739,905,000 after acquiring an additional 120,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 24.7% in the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,550,000 after acquiring an additional 6,672 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $164.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.01. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.70 and a fifty-two week high of $200.33. The company has a market capitalization of $73.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ZTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $212.75.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,571,930. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by 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.