First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,719 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,279 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.44.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.0 %

ZTS traded up $1.89 on Wednesday, hitting $183.16. 465,503 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,501,229. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $82.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $189.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.25. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $201.92.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.