Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Baker Avenue Asset Management LP

Key Points

• Baker Avenue Asset Management LP reduced its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 59.5%, selling 14,602 shares and holding 9,951 shares valued at approximately $1.64 million.
• Zoetis recently reported a quarterly EPS of $1.48, beating analysts' expectations and showing a 1.4% revenue increase year-over-year, with a total revenue of $2.22 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $2.00 and a yield of 1.4%.

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP cut its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 59.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,951 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,602 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP's holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Zoetis by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,426,394 shares of the company's stock worth $1,047,052,000 after purchasing an additional 755,893 shares in the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,800,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $782,064,000 after purchasing an additional 325,000 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,408,542 shares of the company's stock worth $725,866,000 after buying an additional 312,746 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,078,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $664,523,000 after purchasing an additional 182,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Zoetis by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,437,895 shares of the company's stock worth $560,137,000 after acquiring an additional 363,843 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Price Performance

ZTS stock traded up $4.93 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $152.31. The company had a trading volume of 6,269,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,305,504. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $158.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.35. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.70 and a 1 year high of $200.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $67.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.88.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 55.48%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ZTS shares. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners downgraded Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $110,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% 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.