Grimes & Company Inc. Makes New Investment in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Grimes & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Zoetis by 24.5% during the first quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 58.6% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 41,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,095,000 after buying an additional 15,491 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 43.7% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 40,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,877,000 after buying an additional 12,359 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the first quarter worth $19,819,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 275.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,259,000 after buying an additional 70,476 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $181.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $82.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $189.23 and its 200-day moving average is $177.58. 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 Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.67% and a net margin of 26.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.432 dividend. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

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.