Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Stake Raised by Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,727 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,544 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $21,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ZTS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth about $824,321,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 78.5% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $196,651,000. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,219,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $178,688,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE:ZTS traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $162.10. 2,873,540 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,522,978. The company has a market capitalization of $72.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $139.70 and a one year high of $200.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $156.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.05.

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

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Zoetis's payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ZTS. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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.