Cerity Partners LLC Buys 34,359 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 152,822 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 34,359 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $29,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 275.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 96,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,259,000 after purchasing an additional 70,476 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,684,000. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $688,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Asia Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 41.0% in the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Asia Ltd. now owns 37,500 shares of the company's stock worth $6,501,000 after purchasing an additional 10,900 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 56.2% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,946,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $337,407,000 after acquiring an additional 700,398 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS stock traded up $1.74 on Monday, hitting $178.70. 4,558,329 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,551,175. The firm has a market cap of $80.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.72. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $201.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Zoetis 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.