Everence Capital Management Inc. Purchases 4,310 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 31.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,900 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,310 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,344,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,147,730,000 after purchasing an additional 297,044 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Zoetis by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,872,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,593,395,000 after acquiring an additional 2,796,694 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 0.3% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,617,464,000 after acquiring an additional 27,097 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Zoetis by 3.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,143,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,068,804,000 after acquiring an additional 196,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at $745,861,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.33, for a total transaction of $159,983.59. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,723 shares in the company, valued at $2,725,267.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,209 shares of company stock worth $408,453. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Zoetis from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.75.

Zoetis Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE ZTS traded up $3.25 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $153.02. 4,828,650 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,944,584. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $179.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 2.00. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.48 and a 12-month high of $201.92. The firm has a market cap of $69.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.21, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.85.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.25% and a net margin of 27.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.432 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.93%.

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.