Bill Ackman (Trades, Portfolio) of Pershing Square Capital Management LP reduced his stake in Zoetis Inc. (ZTS, Financial) for the second time this year with the sale of 6,081,841 shares for $47.69 per share on July 7.
Ackman sold more than 40% of his stake in May.
The reduction of more than 24% of his remaining stake left Ackman with a position of 18,891,304 shares. The transaction had a -3.28% impact on the guru’s portfolio.
A couple of days before Ackman sold the shares, Zoetis, a New Jersey-based company that produces medicines and vaccinations for animals, was close to its 52-week high at $48.09. The price rose another 0.8% by the time the market closed Friday afternoon.
Ackman’s stake, which was more than 8% of Zoetis’ outstanding shares when the year began, is now 3.81%. The stake represented nearly 21% of Ackman’s total assets when 2016 began. It is now 10.52% of his total assets.
Ackman remained Zoetis’ leading shareholder among the gurus.
Zoetis has a P/E of 63.8, a forward P/E of 26, a P/B of 20.7 and a P/S of 5. GuruFocus gives Zoetis a Financial Strength rating of 5/10 with a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.15 that is lower than 91% of the companies in the Global Drug Manufacturers – Specialty & Generic industry.
GuruFocus also gives Zoetis a Profitability and Growth rating of 7/10 with ROE of 31.95% that is higher than 93% of the companies in the Global Drug Manufacturers – Specialty & Generic industry and ROA of 5.39% that is higher than 60% of the companies in that industry.
Zoetis sold for $48.5 per share Friday. The DCF Calculator gives Zoetis a fair value of $8.13.
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