Prudential PLC Boosts Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Key Points

• Prudential PLC increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 9.1%, acquiring an additional 13,718 shares, bringing its total to 165,264 shares worth approximately $27.2 million.
• Zoetis reported earnings of $1.76 per share, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, marking a 4.2% increase year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 34.42%.

Prudential PLC boosted its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,264 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,718 shares during the period. Prudential PLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $27,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,709 shares of the company's stock worth $5,550,000 after acquiring an additional 6,672 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Zoetis by 100.3% during the 1st quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 395,626 shares of the company's stock worth $65,140,000 after acquiring an additional 198,089 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,394 shares of the company's stock worth $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the first quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 117.6% during the first quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,155,000 after buying an additional 3,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS stock traded up $2.61 on Wednesday, reaching $152.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,331,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,811,839. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $155.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.45. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.70 and a 1 year high of $200.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $67.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.88.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.83% and a return on equity of 56.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. Zoetis's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ZTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partners cut shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.