Wedbush Securities Inc. Grows Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 91.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,173 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,895 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.'s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. City National Bank of Florida MSD lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 13.3% in the first quarter. City National Bank of Florida MSD now owns 1,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Forbes J M & Co. LLP raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 56,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,215 shares of the company's stock worth $2,011,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in Zoetis during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Finally, Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Zoetis during the first quarter worth $603,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ZTS shares. UBS Group cut 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. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners downgraded Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at $2,571,930. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Zoetis stock traded down $0.90 on Friday, reaching $151.92. 3,326,080 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,967,721. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $159.91 and a 200 day moving average of $161.01. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $139.70 and a one year high of $200.33. The company has a market capitalization of $67.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.91.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 55.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.91%.

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.