DNB Asset Management AS Reduces Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

DNB Asset Management AS lowered its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS – Get Rating) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 249,581 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,636 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS owned approximately 0.05% of Zoetis worth $36,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Zoetis by 171.7% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,326,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $627,335,000 after acquiring an additional 2,102,306 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 359.6% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 922,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,932,000 after buying an additional 721,600 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 240.6% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 940,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,479,000 after buying an additional 664,410 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 21.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,999,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,645,000 after buying an additional 527,760 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 5.3% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,010,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,720,640,000 after buying an additional 504,073 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ZTS. StockNews.com began coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Zoetis from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.83.

Zoetis Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS traded down $1.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $164.47. The stock had a trading volume of 3,605,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,779,204. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market cap of $76.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $165.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.25. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.15 and a 52-week high of $201.32.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.20% and a net margin of 26.16%. Zoetis’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 21st will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 20th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.33%.

About Zoetis

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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.