Congress Asset Management Co. Grows Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 689,804 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,072 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned 0.15% of Zoetis worth $134,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,738 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 58.6% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 41,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,095,000 after buying an additional 15,491 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 40,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,877,000 after buying an additional 12,359 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $19,819,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 275.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,259,000 after acquiring an additional 70,476 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. BTIG Research upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.44.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS traded down $2.58 on Thursday, hitting $179.73. 423,747 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,497,925. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $201.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.43 billion, a PE ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $189.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.28.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.67% and a net margin of 26.29%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company 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 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.14%.

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.