BHK Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 3,452 Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

BHK Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $568,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ZTS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 180.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company's stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 2,978 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 21,470 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted 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 valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,710,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $154.91 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market cap of $68.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $161.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.82. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 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 company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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. 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 report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $212.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Zoetis Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.