Willis Investment Counsel Acquires 15,240 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Willis Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 33.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,467 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,240 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $10,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Callahan Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 90.4% during the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Zoetis by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,617,000 after acquiring an additional 46,050 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Zoetis by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 245,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,036,000 after acquiring an additional 6,169 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Zoetis by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,739,905,000 after acquiring an additional 120,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,550,000 after acquiring an additional 6,672 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.4%

ZTS stock opened at $168.64 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.70 and a 1-year high of $200.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $158.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. The company 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%. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.91%.

Zoetis 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.