Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Acquired by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 61.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,782 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,940 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $824,321,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position 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 buying an additional 3,059,255 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the first quarter valued at approximately $339,111,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 1,747,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $196,651,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the firm's 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 now directly owns 15,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,571,930. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Zoetis Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of ZTS stock traded down $4.55 on Friday, hitting $164.27. The stock had a trading volume of 2,973,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,552,614. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50 day moving average is $158.67 and its 200-day moving average is $163.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.70 and a 52-week high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.75.

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.