Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Bought by Leelyn Smith LLC

Leelyn Smith LLC raised its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 21,689 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 275.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,259,000 after purchasing an additional 70,476 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter valued at $11,684,000. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 1st quarter worth about $688,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Asia Ltd. lifted its position in Zoetis by 41.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Asia Ltd. now owns 37,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,501,000 after purchasing an additional 10,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Zoetis by 56.2% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,946,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,407,000 after purchasing an additional 700,398 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS opened at $176.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69. The company has a market cap of $79.85 billion, a PE ratio of 33.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $185.62 and a 200-day moving average of $180.53. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $201.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.432 per share. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ZTS. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.44.

Zoetis Company Profile

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.