First Affirmative Financial Network Increases Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

First Affirmative Financial Network grew its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,750 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 227 shares during the quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,904,899 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Zoetis during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $210,815,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 7,608.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 835,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,874,000 after acquiring an additional 824,843 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,334,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,960,912,000 after acquiring an additional 536,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 178.2% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 639,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,185,000 after purchasing an additional 409,522 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS stock opened at $190.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.12 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.20. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $201.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ZTS. BTIG Research upped their price target on Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target 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. upped 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. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Argus raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.44.

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.