Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 23.7%, owning 196,490 shares valued at $32.35 million by the end of the most recent reporting period.
• Several institutional investors, including Portside Wealth Group LLC and Tandem Investment Advisors Inc., also boosted their holdings in Zoetis during the first quarter, with the latter increasing their stake by over 100%.
• Zoetis reported earnings per share of $1.76 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst estimates and reflecting a 4.2% year-over-year revenue growth. The company also declared a dividend of $0.50, indicating a 1.3% yield.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 23.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 196,490 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,700 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $32,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ZTS. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the first quarter worth $616,375,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the first quarter worth $339,111,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4,158.3% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,824,967 shares of the company's stock worth $300,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,110 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 14,731.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,759,285 shares of the company's stock worth $289,666,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747,423 shares during the period. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 17.6% during the first quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 8,796,847 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,448,401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313,653 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS traded down $1.83 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $152.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,158,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,114,079. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $154.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.03. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.70 and a 52 week high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 56.90% and a net margin of 27.83%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's payout ratio is currently 34.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Leerink Partners cut Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In related 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 value of $110,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.