Martin Currie Ltd. Increases Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• Martin Currie Ltd. increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 1.9%, owning a total of 303,063 shares, making it the fund's 19th largest holding.
• Several institutional investors, including Element Capital Management and Liontrust Investment Partners, have recently increased their stakes in Zoetis, with hedge funds and institutional investors owning 92.80% of the stock.
• Zoetis reported stronger-than-expected earnings, with an EPS of $1.76 against the forecast of $1.62, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Martin Currie Ltd. lifted its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 303,063 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,621 shares during the period. Zoetis makes up approximately 2.0% of Martin Currie Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Martin Currie Ltd. owned 0.07% of Zoetis worth $49,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,758,000. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 35.0% in the first quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 14,691 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,812 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,354,804 shares of the company's stock valued at $387,670,000 after acquiring an additional 9,828 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 8.2% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 12,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,981,000 after acquiring an additional 912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 5.0% in the first quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 9,602 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ZTS shares. Leerink Partnrs lowered Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Leerink Partners cut shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.43.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Zoetis stock traded down $1.83 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $152.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,158,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,678,922. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.70 and a 12-month high of $200.33. The company has a market capitalization of $67.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.21, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.76. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $154.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.03.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.83% and a return on equity of 56.90%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. Zoetis's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's payout ratio is 34.42%.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.