Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Cuts Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lowered its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 5.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,503 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,138 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $15,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% during the fourth 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. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,219,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,541 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Zoetis by 78.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,059,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Zoetis by 13.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis 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 now owns 15,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.75.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS traded up $2.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $168.64. 2,334,091 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,548,606. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.70 and a fifty-two week high of $200.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The business's 50 day moving average is $158.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.