West Bancorporation Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,717 Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

West Bancorporation Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Account Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,715,000. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Consolidated Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 48.4% during the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 90.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.54, for a total transaction of $405,855.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roman Trawicki sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.15, for a total transaction of $1,128,900.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,622 shares of company stock worth $9,995,351 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

ZTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $242.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Saturday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $232.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $224.78.

ZTS traded down $4.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $177.25. 2,251,951 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,015,491. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $165.22 and a 1 year high of $249.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 3.86 and a quick ratio of 2.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.10.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 15th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.20% and a return on equity of 50.71%. The company had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 20th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 30.45%.

Zoetis Profile (Get Rating)

Zoetis Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and commercializes animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products in the United States and internationally. It commercializes products primarily across species, including livestock, such as cattle, swine, poultry, fish, and sheep; and companion animals comprising dogs, cats, and horses.

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