Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Buys 30,407 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 282,801 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30,407 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $46,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Callahan Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 90.4% in the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 6,221 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Zoetis by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,617,000 after purchasing an additional 46,050 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in Zoetis by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,764,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 2,050.0% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,904,000 after buying an additional 28,700 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Zoetis Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:ZTS opened at $161.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.02. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.33. The firm has a market cap of $72.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. Equities analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ZTS. UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

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.