Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 577,700 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,478 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $94,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829,815 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 41,235.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,652,000 after purchasing an additional 937,700 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 296.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,917,000 after purchasing an additional 665,331 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,266,000 after purchasing an additional 572,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,809,000. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $214.00.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $165.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $74.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $169.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.08.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

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.