Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 77.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,552 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 75,157 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $28,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 482.8% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Zoetis by 5,533.3% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth $58,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ZTS. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $212.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value 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 trade represents a 9.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,188 shares of company stock worth $367,289. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE ZTS traded up $1.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $169.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,663,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,535,049. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.70 and a 12 month 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. The company's fifty day moving average price is $157.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.46. The stock has a market cap of $75.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.03, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced 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 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share 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 $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 1.18%. Zoetis's payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

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.