Appleton Partners Inc. MA Decreases Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA cut its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 87,589 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,359 shares during the quarter. Zoetis accounts for about 1.3% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $17,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,716,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,707,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,244,074 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its holdings in 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 stake in Zoetis during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $210,815,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Zoetis by 7,608.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 835,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,874,000 after purchasing an additional 824,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,334,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,960,912,000 after purchasing an additional 536,477 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $192.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $186.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.21. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $201.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.88.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.07. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.67% and a net margin of 26.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $220.38.

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.