Harvey Investment Co. LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Harvey Investment Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 72.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,508 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 13,630 shares during the period. Harvey Investment Co. LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $5,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $824,321,000. 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 position in shares of Zoetis during the first quarter valued at approximately $339,111,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 14,731.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,759,285 shares of the company's stock worth $289,666,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747,423 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth $196,651,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $157.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $159.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $163.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.70 and a 1 year high of $200.33.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 1.27%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted 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 lowered Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.13.

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.

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