Creative Planning Increases Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 90,401 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,170 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $17,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Zoetis by 1.0% in the 1st 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Zoetis by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,687,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $812,695,000 after acquiring an additional 178,303 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Zoetis by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,050,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,416,000 after acquiring an additional 90,330 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 5.8% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in Zoetis by 546.3% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ZTS. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. BTIG Research raised their target price on Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Argus upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.44.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $189.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $86.45 billion, a PE ratio of 36.50, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 moving average price of $189.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.34. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $201.92.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.432 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 33.14%.

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.