Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 1,954 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lowered its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 38,240 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,954 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $7,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 13,726.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after buying an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 4.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,687,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,695,000 after acquiring an additional 178,303 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,896,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $761,221,000 after acquiring an additional 194,542 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,774,000 after purchasing an additional 166,517 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,497,000 after purchasing an additional 351,372 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS stock opened at $176.74 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $201.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $184.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.78. The company has a market capitalization of $79.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. The company’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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

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

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.