German American Bancorp Inc. Raises Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

German American Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 10.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,046 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the quarter. German American Bancorp Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the third 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Zoetis by 4.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,687,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $812,695,000 after acquiring an additional 178,303 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Zoetis by 2.3% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 5.8% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,774,000 after acquiring an additional 166,517 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Zoetis by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,497,000 after purchasing an additional 351,372 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS opened at $175.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.26 billion, a PE ratio of 33.02, a PEG ratio of 2.69 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 twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $201.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $186.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.47.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The business 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 firm posted $1.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ZTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective 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. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.44.

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.