Zoetis Inc. $ZTS Stock: Fulcrum Asset Management LLP Increases Holdings

Fulcrum Asset Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1,867.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 61,276 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,162 shares during the quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 10.8% during the second 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,667,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,413,323,000 after buying an additional 343,322 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake 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 period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 5.8% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,851,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,506,000 after buying an additional 319,709 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Zoetis by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,252,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,559,000 after buying an additional 303,395 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Up 3.5%

Zoetis stock opened at $82.17 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.77 and a 12-month high of $132.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $75.77 and its 200 day moving average is $92.39. The company has a market capitalization of $33.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.97, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.67.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 74.89%. Zoetis’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair lowered shares of Zoetis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $146.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Zoetis from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $83.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.25.

About Zoetis

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.

Zoetis originated as Pfizer’s animal health business and became an independent public company in 2013.