Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Makes New $10.16 Million Investment in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 61,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,160,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 180.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,978 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 419,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,354,000 after purchasing an additional 21,470 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1,269.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 267,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,613,000 after purchasing an additional 248,131 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 245,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,036,000 after purchasing an additional 6,169 shares during the period. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Leerink Partners cut Zoetis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Leerink Partnrs cut Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.63.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.0%

Zoetis stock opened at $150.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $67.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.91. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.70 and a 52 week high of $200.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $159.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for 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%. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.