Lafayette Investments Inc. Increases Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Lafayette Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,716 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its position in Zoetis by 546.3% during the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,253,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,904,899 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $210,815,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 41,235.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,652,000 after acquiring an additional 937,700 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 824,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Zoetis by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,749,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,895,235,000 after purchasing an additional 414,605 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE:ZTS traded down $4.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $184.82. The stock had a trading volume of 532,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,498,298. 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 $83.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.58. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.432 per share. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 33.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ZTS shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Argus upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Finally, BTIG Research increased 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.44.

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.