Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 296.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 889,444 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 665,331 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.20% of Zoetis worth $144,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $916,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at $228,000. CCLA Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 758,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,638,000 after purchasing an additional 135,630 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co. increased its holdings in Zoetis by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 108,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,640,000 after buying an additional 2,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $384,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the topic of several research reports. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.89.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $164.31 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.53. 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 results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. Zoetis’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

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.