HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lowered its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 57.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,537 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,464 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 79.3% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 87.6% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 257 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 141.4% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 280 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of Zoetis stock traded up $3.82 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $151.19. 4,560,583 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,636,400. 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. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $160.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.91.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid 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 1.32%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on 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 research note on Thursday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of 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 report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Four equities 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.