KBC Group NV Grows Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 375,167 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,159 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned 0.08% of Zoetis worth $73,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Zoetis by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,749,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,895,235,000 after buying an additional 414,605 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in 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 during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake 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 worth $685,416,000 after acquiring an additional 90,330 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 5.8% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 17.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,497,000 after acquiring an additional 351,372 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $177.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $79.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $187.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.04. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $201.92.

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

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.432 per share. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ZTS. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Piper Sandler upped 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 Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average 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.