FourThought Financial Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Key Points

• FourThought Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis Inc. by 8.8% after acquiring an additional 2,137 shares, bringing its total to 26,386 shares worth approximately $4.34 million.
• Zoetis recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.32%, with the payout scheduled for September 3rd.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a quarterly revenue of $2.22 billion and earnings per share of $1.48, surpassing analyst estimates.

FourThought Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 8.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,386 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,137 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.63.

Zoetis Price Performance

ZTS traded down $1.47 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $150.65. 2,261,077 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,984,698. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.70 and a 1-year high of $200.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.07 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business's 50-day moving average price is $159.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.96.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 55.48%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value 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. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.