Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lessened its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,098 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,659 shares during the period. Zoetis comprises about 1.1% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $13,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 245,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,036,000 after acquiring an additional 6,169 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,739,905,000 after acquiring an additional 120,158 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,550,000 after acquiring an additional 6,672 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 72.4% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 93,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,171,000 after acquiring an additional 39,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at $37,298,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $157.26 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.70 and a 1 year high of $200.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.40. The firm has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 35.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were 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. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.