Confluence Investment Management LLC Buys New Shares in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 139,675 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,997,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company's stock worth $569,834,000 after buying an additional 279,092 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 180.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company's stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 2,978 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the company's stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,353 shares of the company's stock worth $1,524,000 after buying an additional 4,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 52,401 shares of the company's stock worth $8,538,000 after buying an additional 5,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $212.75.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of ZTS traded up $1.57 during midday 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 company's 50 day moving average price is $156.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.50. The stock has a market cap of $75.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.84, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.70 and a 52 week high of $200.33. 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 (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.