Covea Finance Acquires 50,293 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Covea Finance raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 20.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 297,862 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 50,293 shares during the period. Zoetis accounts for approximately 2.2% of Covea Finance’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Covea Finance’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $49,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 0.3% during the first quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 76,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,598,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 7.5% during the first quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 2,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 0.9% during the first quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,155,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 23.4% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 2.7% during the first quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 24,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,049,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.4%

ZTS opened at $157.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.70 and a 12 month high of $200.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $159.58 and a 200 day moving average of $163.40.

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

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on 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 raised 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $212.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 15,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,571,930. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.