Banco Santander S.A. Has $2.97 Million Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,222 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 275.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,259,000 after purchasing an additional 70,476 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Zoetis in the third quarter valued at approximately $11,684,000. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 1st quarter worth $688,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Asia Ltd. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Asia Ltd. now owns 37,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,501,000 after acquiring an additional 10,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 56.2% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,946,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,407,000 after purchasing an additional 700,398 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Zoetis Stock Up 0.6 %

Zoetis stock opened at $176.71 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $185.90 and a 200-day moving average of $180.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $201.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.73 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

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.