BNP Paribas Buys 1,410 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

BNP Paribas raised its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,707 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 178,303 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,774,000 after acquiring an additional 166,517 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 351,372 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its stake in Zoetis by 546.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,253,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904,899 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of ZTS opened at $176.74 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $201.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.81. The firm has a market cap of $79.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.432 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ZTS shares. Argus upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. BTIG Research increased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.