Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 455,191 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,001,283 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 455,191 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.44% of Zoetis worth $326,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Callahan Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 90.4% during the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Zoetis by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,617,000 after acquiring an additional 46,050 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,764,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 2,050.0% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,904,000 after purchasing an additional 28,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $165.12 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.87. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $73.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.