Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Grows Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 54,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $10,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 10,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 6,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 10.8% in the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 66,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,185,000 after purchasing an additional 6,441 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 6,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Zoetis Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $177.28 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $201.92. The firm has a market cap of $79.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.432 per share. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

About Zoetis

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.