Zoetis Inc. $ZTS Shares Acquired by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 313,562 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,377 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Zoetis worth $21,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Zoetis in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 519.3% during the second quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 353 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 3,881.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 438 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Grp LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 6,675.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Grp LLC now owns 271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $83.65. 3,151,935 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,644,448. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.77 and a fifty-two week high of $132.49. The firm has a market cap of $33.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 85.90% and a net margin of 26.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 36.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on ZTS shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on Zoetis from $104.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $94.00 price target on Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. William Blair cut Zoetis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a report on Friday, October 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.25.

Zoetis Profile

Zoetis is an animal health company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets medicines, vaccines, diagnostic products and other services for animals. Its products support both companion animals, such as dogs and cats, and livestock, including cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep and fish. The company’s offerings include treatments for pain, infections and skin conditions, as well as vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostic tools and genetic testing services. Zoetis serves veterinarians, livestock producers and other animal health professionals around the world.