Mutual Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 48.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,470 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $824,321,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,059,255 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the first quarter valued at $339,111,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 14,731.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,759,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $289,666,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,219,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,541 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ZTS. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $212.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $110,840.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of ZTS stock traded up $0.78 on Tuesday, hitting $157.83. The stock had a trading volume of 211,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,564,755. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $161.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.02. The company has a market cap of $70.27 billion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.91. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $139.70 and a one year high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 55.48% and a net margin of 27.12%. The firm's quarterly 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. Research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company 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 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 is presently 35.91%.

Zoetis 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.