Royal Bank of Canada Purchases 363,843 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,437,895 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 363,843 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.76% of Zoetis worth $560,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Zoetis by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company's stock worth $569,834,000 after purchasing an additional 279,092 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth about $272,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 24,148 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,934,000 after buying an additional 997 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. boosted its position in Zoetis by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 4,749 shares of the company's stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Finally, Werlinich Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Zoetis by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the company's stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,682,770. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Zoetis Trading Down 0.2%

ZTS traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $163.63. 1,780,660 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,512,361. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.70 and a 1-year high of $200.33. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $156.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ZTS. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $212.75.

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.