Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Bought by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 54.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 823,950 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 290,548 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $135,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 79.3% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in Zoetis by 87.6% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 141.4% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 614.6% during the 1st quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $147.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.88. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.70 and a 1 year high of $200.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $156.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.41 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.83% and a return on equity of 56.90%. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.42%.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Zoetis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price 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 given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.