Hayek Kallen Investment Management Cuts Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Hayek Kallen Investment Management lowered its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,391 shares of the company’s stock after selling 214 shares during the quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,749,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,895,235,000 after purchasing an additional 414,605 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Zoetis by 4.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,687,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,695,000 after buying an additional 178,303 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,050,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,416,000 after acquiring an additional 90,330 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,774,000 after acquiring an additional 166,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 546.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,253,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904,899 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Zoetis Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of ZTS traded up $1.08 on Tuesday, hitting $193.73. 367,601 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,534,976. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $201.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $188.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.07. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.67% and a net margin of 26.29%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.432 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 33.14%.

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.