Banco Santander S.A. Invests $2.53 Million in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 14,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,530,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at about $980,646,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Zoetis by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,716,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,707,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,244,074 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 546.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,253,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904,899 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the first quarter valued at approximately $210,815,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado purchased a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at $242,757,000. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.0 %

Zoetis stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $182.86. 1,359,890 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,681,087. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 3.45. The company has a market cap of $82.84 billion, a PE ratio of 35.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $179.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.63. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $201.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.67% and a net margin of 26.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC lowered their price target on Zoetis from $230.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday. Argus raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $217.11.

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.