Covea Finance Grows Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Covea Finance lifted its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 297,862 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 50,293 shares during the quarter. Zoetis makes up approximately 2.2% of Covea Finance's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Covea Finance owned about 0.07% of Zoetis worth $49,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Zoetis by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 245,726 shares of the company's stock worth $40,036,000 after purchasing an additional 6,169 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company's stock worth $6,739,905,000 after purchasing an additional 120,158 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,709 shares of the company's stock worth $5,550,000 after buying an additional 6,672 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Zoetis by 72.4% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 93,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,171,000 after buying an additional 39,114 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $37,298,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS traded up $2.20 on Friday, hitting $157.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,296,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,554,322. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.70 and a 12 month high of $200.33. The firm has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $159.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.31.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 55.48% and a net margin of 27.12%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ZTS. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $110,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.