Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases 943 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,088 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 943 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 546.3% in the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,253,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,904,899 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the first quarter valued at $210,815,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Zoetis by 41,235.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,652,000 after purchasing an additional 937,700 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 7,608.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 835,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,874,000 after acquiring an additional 824,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 414,605 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the subject of a number of research reports. BTIG Research increased 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. 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 report on Wednesday, September 18th. Argus upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.44.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $174.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $78.79 billion, a PE ratio of 32.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.02. 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 fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $201.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

Zoetis 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.