Zoetis Inc. $ZTS Stock Sold by M&G PLC

M&G PLC reduced its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 259,651 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,464 shares during the period. M&G PLC owned approximately 0.06% of Zoetis worth $18,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Zoetis by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 39,430,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,833,453,000 after purchasing an additional 3,845,869 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Zoetis by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,667,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,413,323,000 after acquiring an additional 343,322 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,851,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,506,000 after purchasing an additional 319,709 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 7.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,831,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,150,000 after buying an additional 327,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,252,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,559,000 after purchasing an additional 303,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.2%

ZTS opened at $82.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.67. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.77 and a fifty-two week high of $132.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $75.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.24. Zoetis had a return on equity of 85.90% and a net margin of 26.15%. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ZTS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on Zoetis from $146.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. BTIG Research dropped coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Friday, October 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research raised Zoetis from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Zoetis from $104.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.25.

Zoetis Company Profile

Zoetis is an animal health company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets medicines, vaccines, diagnostic products and other services for animals. Its products support both companion animals, such as dogs and cats, and livestock, including cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep and fish. The company’s offerings include treatments for pain, infections and skin conditions, as well as vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostic tools and genetic testing services. Zoetis serves veterinarians, livestock producers and other animal health professionals around the world.