Swiss National Bank Cuts Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 0.6% in Q1, now owning 1,272,432 shares valued at approximately $209.5 million.
• Zoetis reported $1.76 earnings per share for the latest quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.14, with a revenue increase of 4.2% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.4% and a payout ratio of 34.42%.

Swiss National Bank lessened its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,272,432 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Zoetis worth $209,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 180.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $754,000 after buying an additional 2,978 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 419,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,354,000 after buying an additional 21,470 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 34,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,606,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $110,840.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Zoetis stock traded up $1.73 during trading on Monday, hitting $149.08. 3,065,317 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,122,244. The stock has a market cap of $66.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $156.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.71. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.70 and a 12-month high of $200.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors 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 is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ZTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $215.00 target price (up from $210.00) on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.25.

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.