Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Zoetis by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,749,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,895,235,000 after purchasing an additional 414,605 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4.0% in 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 buying an additional 178,303 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 90,330 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 166,517 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in Zoetis by 546.3% in the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,253,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904,899 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ZTS. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Argus raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, 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. Ten equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.44.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS stock traded up $2.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $193.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,576,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,691,664. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.07. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $201.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.07. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.29% and a return on equity of 50.67%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

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.