Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Trading Down 2.1% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) traded down 2.1% on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $149.33 and last traded at $149.94. 542,959 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 2,957,125 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.11.

Specifically, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.17, for a total transaction of $139,529.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,237,316. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 2,209 shares of company stock worth $371,293 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ZTS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.75.

Zoetis Trading Down 3.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $67.48 billion, a PE ratio of 30.20, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.85. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.20.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 34.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 7.4% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 93,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,308,000 after purchasing an additional 6,457 shares in the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth $2,776,000. BLB&B Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.9% in the third quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 60,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 183,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,230,000 after purchasing an additional 17,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 4.0% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 24,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

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.