Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $603,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 180.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,978 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in Zoetis by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 419,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,354,000 after purchasing an additional 21,470 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 396,851 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,722,000 after purchasing an additional 37,275 shares during the period. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the company's stock worth $2,155,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS traded down $0.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $151.92. 3,326,080 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,967,721. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $159.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.74. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $139.70 and a one year high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 55.48% and a net margin of 27.12%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Zoetis's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's payout ratio is 35.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners downgraded Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.63.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.