Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Lowers Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lowered its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 44.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 20,255 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,322 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. River Street Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 1,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,654,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 3.3% during the third quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% during the third quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 22,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,929,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $150.88. The company had a trading volume of 3,574,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,074,312. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.78. The stock has a market cap of $69.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.85. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $201.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.08). Zoetis had a net margin of 27.43% and a return on equity of 51.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 target price (down previously from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.74, for a total value of $71,779.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,037,257.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 2,209 shares of company stock worth $371,293 over the last 90 days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Zoetis

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.