Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 296.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 889,444 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 665,331 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $144,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter valued at $31,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 80.6% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 273.2% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Down 1.2 %

Zoetis stock opened at $164.31 on Wednesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $171.31 and its 200-day moving average is $180.16. 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 $74.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. Zoetis’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on ZTS shares. Leerink Partners began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.89.

Zoetis 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.