Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 477 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,355 shares of the company’s stock after selling 477 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $6,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 93,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,308,000 after acquiring an additional 6,457 shares in the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,776,000. BLB&B Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 60,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,591,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 108,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,374,000 after buying an additional 12,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $36,230,000 after acquiring an additional 17,976 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down previously from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $218.00.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Zoetis stock traded up $5.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $158.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,236,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,117,213. The company has a market capitalization of $72.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.25, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $171.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.29. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $201.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 3.36.

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

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.432 dividend. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 363 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.74, for a total value of $71,779.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,417 shares in the company, valued at $4,037,257.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 2,209 shares of company stock valued at $371,293 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.