TCTC Holdings LLC Purchases 2,616 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Key Points

• TCTC Holdings LLC increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 6.5%, owning 42,672 shares worth about $7 million after purchasing an additional 2,616 shares.
• Zoetis reported earnings of $1.48 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.08, with a revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with an anticipated annual yield of 1.33% based on a payout ratio of 35.91%.

TCTC Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,672 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,616 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $7,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 78.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company's stock worth $1,133,755,000 after buying an additional 3,059,255 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $339,111,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 4,158.3% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,824,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,110 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 14,731.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,759,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $289,666,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $178,688,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at $2,571,930. This trade represents 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 at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.0%

ZTS stock traded up $1.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $147.28. The company had a trading volume of 2,170,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,053,582. 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 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $65.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average of $158.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.58.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during 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 company's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ZTS shares. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group reduced 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. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.63.

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.