Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Raises Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,869 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 79.3% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 141.4% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 614.6% during the first quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,571,930. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.13.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $151.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $139.70 and a one year high of $200.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.43 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.91.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 55.48%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. Zoetis’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 35.91%.

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.