Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases 106,347 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 143.0%, owning 180,690 shares worth approximately $29.75 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have given mixed ratings on Zoetis, with four maintaining a hold rating, while the average price target across analysts is $204.63.
• Zoetis announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, reflecting a yield of 1.4%, payable on September 3rd to shareholders of record from July 18th.

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 143.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 180,690 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 106,347 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Zoetis were worth $29,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 180.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 2,978 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Zoetis by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 419,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,354,000 after acquiring an additional 21,470 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,757,000 after acquiring an additional 15,298 shares during the last quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at $485,000. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 74.0% in the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners cut shares of 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. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Zoetis Price Performance

ZTS stock traded down $4.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $147.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,833,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,073,135. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.70 and a 52 week high of $200.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 55.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.91%.

Zoetis Profile

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.