Cantillon Capital Management LLC Sells 38,425 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,286,331 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,425 shares during the quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned 0.28% of Zoetis worth $251,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,524,000 after buying an additional 4,829,815 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Zoetis by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,687,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,695,000 after buying an additional 178,303 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Zoetis by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,050,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,416,000 after purchasing an additional 90,330 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 5.8% during the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Zoetis by 17.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,497,000 after purchasing an additional 351,372 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $176.42 on Tuesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $201.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $186.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.45. The company has a market cap of $79.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.