Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Stake Raised by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council raised its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 240.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,182 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,482 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 79.3% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 87.6% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 257 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 141.4% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 280 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $110,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock traded down $1.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $147.31. The stock had a trading volume of 2,996,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,624,290. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $65.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.91. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $139.70 and a one year high of $200.33. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $160.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.42.

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

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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