Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Stake in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 38.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 250,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,000 shares during the quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $36,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ZTS. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 496.6% during the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 201.5% in the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 69.1% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 56.8% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ZTS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Zoetis from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. HSBC set a $140.00 price objective on Zoetis in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.18.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $124.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 3.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.97. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.25 and a fifty-two week high of $177.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $123.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.35.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.08. Zoetis had a net margin of 28.21% and a return on equity of 57.19%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 33.67%.

Zoetis Company Profile

Zoetis Inc (NYSE: ZTS) is a global animal health company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of products and services for companion animals and livestock. The company’s offerings include pharmaceuticals, vaccines and biologics, parasiticides and anti-infectives, as well as diagnostic instruments, consumables and laboratory testing services. Zoetis serves the veterinary community, livestock producers and other animal-health customers with products designed to prevent, detect and treat disease and to support animal productivity and welfare.

Zoetis traces its roots to the animal health business of Pfizer and became an independent, publicly traded company following a 2013 separation and initial public offering.