Bailard Inc. Grows Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Bailard Inc. raised its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,569 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $10,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 79.3% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 141.4% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 614.6% during the 1st quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on ZTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Zoetis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 15,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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. The stock 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.70 and a 12-month high of $200.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $161.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.62.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. Equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. 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.