Perennial Advisors LLC Purchases 4,302 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Perennial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 18.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,324 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,302 shares during the period. Perennial Advisors LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Zoetis by 10.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $569,834,000 after buying an additional 279,092 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 180.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company's stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 2,978 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 12,351 shares of the company's stock worth $2,012,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 81.8% in the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 6,273 shares of the company's stock worth $1,022,000 after buying an additional 2,822 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth about $1,646,000. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $110,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,188 shares of company stock worth $367,289. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE:ZTS traded up $1.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $170.15. 1,505,404 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,539,913. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $157.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.29. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $139.70 and a one year high of $200.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $75.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

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.