Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Acquires 316 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 24,416 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the first quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 5.3% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its holdings in Zoetis by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 51,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Zoetis by 102.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 724 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 92.8% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Zoetis from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.75.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.33, for a total transaction of $159,983.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,725,267.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,209 shares of company stock worth $371,293. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Zoetis Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of ZTS opened at $146.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $175.48 and a 200 day moving average of $180.02. The company has a market cap of $66.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.80 and a 52-week high of $201.92.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.432 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 34.12%.

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.