XTX Topco Ltd Acquires 5,880 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in Zoetis Inc. by 443.8% during the first quarter, acquiring a total of 7,205 shares valued at approximately $1.19 million.
• Zoetis reported earnings of $1.48 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and experiencing a 1.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with a yield of 1.4%, payable on September 3rd to shareholders of record as of July 18th.

XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 443.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,205 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,880 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Zoetis by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,550,000 after purchasing an additional 6,672 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 100.3% during the first quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 395,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,140,000 after purchasing an additional 198,089 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 31.2% during the first quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis during the first quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 117.6% during the first quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the business'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 sale, the executive vice president 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. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 3.3%

ZTS traded up $4.93 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $152.31. 6,269,265 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,305,504. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.81 billion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $158.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.35. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.70 and a 1 year high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 55.48% and a net margin of 27.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ZTS shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Leerink Partnrs cut Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.63.

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.