Zoetis Inc. $ZTS Shares Bought by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in Zoetis Inc. by 95.1% during the first quarter, owning a total of 19,086 shares valued at approximately $3.14 million.
• Zoetis reported earnings of $1.76 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with a revenue of $2.46 billion, marking a year-over-year growth of 4.2%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, set to be paid on September 3rd, representing an annual yield of 1.3%.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 95.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,086 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,302 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,556,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,842,222,000 after buying an additional 189,287 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 8,796,847 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,448,401,000 after buying an additional 1,313,653 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,426,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,047,052,000 after buying an additional 755,893 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,146,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $847,293,000 after buying an additional 109,791 shares during the period. Finally, Unisphere Establishment raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,800,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $782,064,000 after buying an additional 325,000 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:ZTS traded down $1.83 during trading on Monday, hitting $152.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,158,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,678,922. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $154.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.90. The company 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 quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.76. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.70 and a fifty-two week high of $200.33.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Zoetis's payout ratio is presently 34.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on ZTS shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partners lowered Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.