D Orazio & Associates Inc. Invests $217,000 in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,211,000 after buying an additional 3,738 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in Zoetis in the first quarter valued at about $19,819,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Zoetis by 275.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,259,000 after purchasing an additional 70,476 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Zoetis by 49.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 25,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 8,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 1st quarter valued at about $688,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Zoetis stock traded up $2.70 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $176.66. The stock had a trading volume of 374,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,532,866. The stock has a market cap of $79.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.00, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $201.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.04. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.432 dividend. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Argus upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.44.

Zoetis Company 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.