B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Invests $49.33 Million in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 252,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,325,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG owned approximately 0.06% of Zoetis at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 94.6% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 2,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 49.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 25,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 8,302 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 56.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 738 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 141.9% during the 1st quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 9,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after buying an additional 5,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Zoetis by 32.1% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 408,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,027,000 after buying an additional 99,162 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.44.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of ZTS opened at $176.42 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.45. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 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 firm has a market capitalization of $79.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 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 company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.432 per share. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

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.