Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Probity Advisors Inc.

Probity Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,323 shares of the company’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. Probity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 79.3% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in Zoetis by 87.6% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 257 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 141.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 614.6% during the 1st quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $152.31 on Tuesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.70 and a 12-month high of $200.33. The firm has a market cap of $67.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $158.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 35.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ZTS shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Leerink Partners cut 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 note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.63.

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.