Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 95,529 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 10.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 801,548 shares of the company’s stock after selling 95,529 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.18% of Zoetis worth $156,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,524,000 after buying an additional 4,829,815 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,687,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $812,695,000 after acquiring an additional 178,303 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised 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 purchasing an additional 90,330 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 5.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 17.3% during the third 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on ZTS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Argus raised 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.44.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.3 %

ZTS stock opened at $175.14 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $201.92. The stock has a market cap of $79.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $187.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.432 per share. 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 0.99%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.