Metis Global Partners LLC Raises Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,187 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,511 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $6,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.0% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 4.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,687,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $812,695,000 after purchasing an additional 178,303 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,050,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,416,000 after acquiring an additional 90,330 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 5.8% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,774,000 after purchasing an additional 166,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Zoetis by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,497,000 after purchasing an additional 351,372 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Ten equities 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 has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $221.44.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $177.28 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $79.98 billion, a PE ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $187.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.02. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $201.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 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.