Empower Advisory Group LLC Sells 254 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Empower Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 14.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,548 shares of the company’s stock after selling 254 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 546.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,253,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904,899 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $210,815,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 41,235.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,652,000 after acquiring an additional 937,700 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 7,608.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 835,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,874,000 after acquiring an additional 824,843 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,749,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,895,235,000 after acquiring an additional 414,605 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on ZTS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.44.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $175.12 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $201.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.98.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. Analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.432 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

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.