Rathbones Group PLC Increases Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 6.3% in Q1, now owning around 463,489 shares valued at approximately $76.3 million.
• Several hedge funds have also increased their positions in Zoetis, with notable increases from Cornerstone Planning Group LLC and Sound Income Strategies LLC.
• Zoetis recently reported earnings of $1.76 per share, surpassing expectations, along with a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share set to be paid in September.

Rathbones Group PLC increased its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 463,489 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,490 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.10% of Zoetis worth $76,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 79.3% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 87.6% in the first 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. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in 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 lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 614.6% in the first quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 293 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of Zoetis 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 approximately $2,571,930. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Zoetis Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of ZTS stock traded up $2.61 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $152.38. 3,331,019 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,811,839. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $155.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.45. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.70 and a 12-month high of $200.33. The stock has a market cap of $67.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.23, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.88. 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 (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

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

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.