Haverford Trust Co Grows Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Haverford Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 130,210 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 495 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $25,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Zoetis by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,749,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,895,235,000 after purchasing an additional 414,605 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Zoetis by 4.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 178,303 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Zoetis by 2.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,050,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,416,000 after purchasing an additional 90,330 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Zoetis by 5.8% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,774,000 after purchasing an additional 166,517 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 351,372 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Zoetis Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $173.95 on Wednesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $201.92. The stock has a market cap of $78.48 billion, a PE ratio of 32.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $188.00 and a 200 day moving average of $179.93.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued 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 0.99%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

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.