Seneca House Advisors Sells 1,738 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Seneca House Advisors lessened its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,470 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,738 shares during the period. Zoetis accounts for 1.7% of Seneca House Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Seneca House Advisors’ holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Zoetis by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,334,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,960,912,000 after purchasing an additional 536,477 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Zoetis by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,716,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,707,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,244,074 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Zoetis by 2.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,344,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,147,730,000 after purchasing an additional 297,044 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Zoetis by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,064,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,788,988,000 after purchasing an additional 57,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at $980,646,000. 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 on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.17, for a total value of $139,529.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,237,316. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $223.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. HSBC decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $230.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.75.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.8 %

Zoetis stock traded down $3.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $173.36. 4,189,580 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,374,760. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $201.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $168.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 50.34%. Zoetis’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 18th will be issued a $0.432 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 18th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

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.