Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Stock Price Down 2.9% Following Insider Selling

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)’s stock price was down 2.9% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $147.11 and last traded at $148.65. Approximately 1,591,615 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 2,965,410 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.11.

Specifically, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 363 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.74, for a total value of $71,779.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,037,257.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 2,209 shares of company stock valued at $371,293 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ZTS. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on Zoetis from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.75.

Zoetis Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $66.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.89, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $175.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.43% and a return on equity of 51.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Norges Bank bought a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $745,861,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,716,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,707,262,000 after buying an additional 3,244,074 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,872,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,593,395,000 after buying an additional 2,796,694 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 124,281.9% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,332,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,778,000 after buying an additional 2,330,285 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 171.7% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,326,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $627,335,000 after purchasing an additional 2,102,306 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

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.