IMPACTfolio LLC Acquires 673 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

IMPACTfolio LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 36.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,525 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. Zoetis comprises about 0.3% of IMPACTfolio LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. IMPACTfolio LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Zoetis by 7.4% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 93,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,308,000 after purchasing an additional 6,457 shares during the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth about $2,776,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,159,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Zoetis by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,716,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,707,262,000 after buying an additional 3,244,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in Zoetis by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 108,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,374,000 after acquiring an additional 12,537 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com lowered Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Zoetis from $223.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price target (down previously from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.75.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS traded down $1.76 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $169.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,119,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,943,674. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $201.92. The company has a market capitalization of $77.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $165.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.50.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.34% and a net margin of 27.38%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 18th will be paid a $0.432 dividend. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 18th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.17, for a total transaction of $139,529.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,237,316. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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.