Bath Savings Trust Co Reduces Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Bath Savings Trust Co reduced its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 18.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,961 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,202 shares during the quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co's holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its position in Zoetis by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. VeraBank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,562 shares of the company's stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the company's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 420 shares of the company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ZTS. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective 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, Wall Street Zen raised Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $212.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.9%

ZTS stock traded up $1.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $168.71. The company had a trading volume of 5,467,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,527,041. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.70 and a 52-week high of $200.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.59.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. Zoetis's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

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.