20,971 Shares in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Bought by Davis Rea LTD.

Davis Rea LTD. acquired a new position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 20,971 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,453,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,617,897 shares of the company's stock worth $1,726,075,000 after purchasing an additional 190,137 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 78.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company's stock worth $1,133,755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059,255 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,426,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,047,052,000 after acquiring an additional 755,893 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $824,321,000. Finally, Unisphere Establishment lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,800,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $782,064,000 after acquiring an additional 325,000 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ZTS shares. Leerink Partners lowered Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.63.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:ZTS traded down $0.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $151.92. The stock had a trading volume of 3,326,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,967,721. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.70 and a 12 month high of $200.33. The company has a market capitalization of $67.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's fifty day moving average is $159.91 and its 200 day moving average is $161.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Zoetis had a return on equity of 55.48% and a net margin of 27.12%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is 35.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.