Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,340 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Zoetis in the third quarter worth $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Zoetis during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 273.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $176.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69. The firm has a market cap of $79.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.61. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $201.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.52%.

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.