Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 34,359 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 29.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 152,822 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,359 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $29,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% during the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 2.0% during the third quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.8% in the second quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP now owns 2,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in Zoetis by 0.5% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 11,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE ZTS opened at $176.96 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $79.84 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $201.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $185.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.72.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ZTS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.44.

Zoetis Company 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.