Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,980 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,948 shares during the quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 482.8% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Zoetis by 5,533.3% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $212.75.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 owns 11,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,188 shares of company stock worth $367,289 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of ZTS traded up $1.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $170.15. 1,505,404 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,537,031. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.37. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.70 and a 52 week high of $200.33. The company has a market cap of $75.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Zoetis's payout ratio 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.