Amalgamated Bank Trims Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,437 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,344 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $15,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Callahan Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 90.4% in the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,764,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,617,000 after purchasing an additional 46,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,834,000 after purchasing an additional 279,092 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Up 2.0 %

ZTS opened at $168.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $166.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.66. The company has a market cap of $75.50 billion, a PE ratio of 30.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ZTS shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.40.

Zoetis 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.