Diversified Portfolios Inc. Takes $201,000 Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Diversified Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. ING Groep NV increased its position in Zoetis by 0.7% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 107,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,041,000 after buying an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.8% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 126,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,710,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 32,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in Zoetis by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 21,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 375,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,300,000 after purchasing an additional 14,159 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ZTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective 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. BTIG Research increased 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.44.

Zoetis Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE ZTS opened at $174.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $201.92. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $187.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.83, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.