Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Invests $11.47 Million in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 78,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,470,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the second quarter valued at approximately $809,491,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 113.0% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,761,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,491 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 85.9% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,578,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191,840 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in Zoetis by 362.6% during the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,176,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,705,000 after buying an additional 922,589 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its stake in Zoetis by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,436,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,565,000 after buying an additional 917,598 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:ZTS opened at $125.08 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $55.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $123.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 3.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.25 and a 52 week high of $177.40.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 57.19% and a net margin of 28.21%.The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 35.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Zoetis to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. HSBC set a $140.00 price objective on Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Zoetis from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Piper Sandler cut Zoetis from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.91.

Zoetis Company Profile

Zoetis Inc (NYSE: ZTS) is a global animal health company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of products and services for companion animals and livestock. The company’s offerings include pharmaceuticals, vaccines and biologics, parasiticides and anti-infectives, as well as diagnostic instruments, consumables and laboratory testing services. Zoetis serves the veterinary community, livestock producers and other animal-health customers with products designed to prevent, detect and treat disease and to support animal productivity and welfare.

Zoetis traces its roots to the animal health business of Pfizer and became an independent, publicly traded company following a 2013 separation and initial public offering.