SFE Investment Counsel Has $5.27 Million Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

SFE Investment Counsel increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 25.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,975 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,419 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel's holdings in Zoetis were worth $5,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 180.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company's stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,978 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in Zoetis by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 419,530 shares of the company's stock worth $68,354,000 after buying an additional 21,470 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 396,851 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,722,000 after acquiring an additional 37,275 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,155,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association raised its stake in Zoetis by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 123,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,175,000 after acquiring an additional 1,764 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ZTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. 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, Leerink Partners cut Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.63.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:ZTS traded down $0.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $151.92. 3,326,080 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,967,721. The firm has a market cap of $67.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.91. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.70 and a fifty-two week high of $200.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $159.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.01.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 55.48%. The firm's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $110,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.