Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Acquired by Townsquare Capital LLC

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 17.5% in Q1, now holding approximately 232,668 shares valued at $38.3 million.
• Zoetis recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with a yield of 1.4% and a dividend payout ratio of 34.42%.
• Analysts have mixed views on Zoetis, with target price adjustments ranging from $155 to $210, and an average rating of "Moderate Buy."

Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 17.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 232,668 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 34,706 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC owned 0.05% of Zoetis worth $38,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 79.3% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 87.6% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 257 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 141.4% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 280 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 614.6% during the 1st quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 293 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on ZTS. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.63.

Zoetis Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE ZTS traded down $0.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $147.34. The stock had a trading volume of 2,062,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,804,772. The company has a market capitalization of $65.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.36, a PEG ratio of 2.41 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $156.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.76. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.70 and a twelve month high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 56.90% and a net margin of 27.83%. Zoetis's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's payout ratio is currently 34.42%.

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.