Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Grows Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 167,808 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 51,030 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $32,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter worth about $11,684,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Asia Ltd. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 41.0% in the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Asia Ltd. now owns 37,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,501,000 after purchasing an additional 10,900 shares during the last quarter. B&L Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter worth approximately $563,000. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 56.2% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,946,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,407,000 after buying an additional 700,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 74,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,556,000 after buying an additional 10,427 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

ZTS opened at $176.46 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $201.92. The firm has a market cap of $79.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.17, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.93.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ZTS. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Argus raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.80.

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.