Fiera Capital Corp Sells 2,399 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Key Points

• Fiera Capital Corp trimmed its holdings in Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS) by 0.4%, owning 642,015 shares valued at approximately $105.7 million as of the end of the most recent quarter.
• Zoetis recently reported earnings of $1.48 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.40, with revenue reaching $2.22 billion.
• The company's stock has a current price target average of $204.63, with a mix of ratings from analysts including four hold, six buy, and one strong buy.

Fiera Capital Corp cut its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 642,015 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,399 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp owned approximately 0.14% of Zoetis worth $105,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 78.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,133,755,000 after buying an additional 3,059,255 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the first quarter valued at $339,111,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 4,158.3% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,824,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,481,000 after buying an additional 1,782,110 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 14,731.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,759,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $289,666,000 after buying an additional 1,747,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth about $178,688,000. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Leerink Partners downgraded Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs downgraded Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.63.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.0%

ZTS traded up $1.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $147.28. 1,884,338 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,052,101. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $158.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.58. 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 1.04, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.57 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.91.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

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