Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Buys 3,812 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners LLP increased its holdings in Zoetis Inc. by 35% in Q1, owning 14,691 shares valued at approximately $2.42 million.
• Zoetis reported an EPS of $1.76 for the recent quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates and indicating a revenue increase of 4.2% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, translating to an annualized yield of 1.3%, reflecting a payout ratio of 34.42%.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 35.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,691 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,812 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 79.3% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 87.6% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 257 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 141.4% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 280 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 614.6% during the 1st quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 293 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.43.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.2%

ZTS stock traded down $1.83 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $152.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,158,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,678,922. The company has a market capitalization of $67.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $154.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.70 and a 12 month high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.41 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 56.90% and a net margin of 27.83%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is 34.42%.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.