Raymond James & Associates Raises Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 925,354 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 130,935 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Zoetis were worth $180,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 89.1% during the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in Zoetis by 273.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Zoetis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in Zoetis by 60.7% in the 1st quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Zoetis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

ZTS stock opened at $193.28 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $201.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.82, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $188.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.07. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.07. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.29% and a return on equity of 50.67%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.432 dividend. 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 0.89%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. 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. Finally, Argus raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.44.

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.