Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Sells 5,170 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,524 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,170 shares during the period. Zoetis accounts for approximately 1.2% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Zoetis were worth $26,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ZTS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 180.4% in 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 position in shares of Zoetis by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 419,530 shares of the company's stock worth $68,354,000 after purchasing an additional 21,470 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,053 shares of the company's stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Zoetis by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 431,899 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,371,000 after acquiring an additional 62,025 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ZTS. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Four equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has a consensus 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 the firm's 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 $2,571,930. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.3%

ZTS traded up $1.98 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $149.35. 2,307,823 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,623,478. The stock has a market cap of $66.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.91. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $160.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.42. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.70 and a twelve month high of $200.33. 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 (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 55.48%. Zoetis's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Zoetis's payout ratio is 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.

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