Courier Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Courier Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 29.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,972 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth $824,321,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Zoetis by 78.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,755,000 after acquiring an additional 3,059,255 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the first quarter valued at $339,111,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 14,731.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,759,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,666,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at $196,651,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 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 report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.75.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $167.10 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.14. The stock has a market cap of $74.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.70 and a 52 week high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.91%.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $110,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Company Profile

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.