Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $28.07 Million in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. has invested approximately $28.07 million in Zoetis Inc., acquiring 180,000 shares during the second quarter.
• The current average analyst rating for Zoetis is a "Hold," with a consensus price target of $195.00, according to various research reports.
• Zoetis recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, payable on December 2, which represents an annualized yield of 1.4%.

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 180,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,071,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 180.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 2,978 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Zoetis by 475.0% in the 1st quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the 1st quarter valued at about $228,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Zoetis by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 275,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,400,000 after acquiring an additional 43,325 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $195.00.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $145.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $64.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company's 50-day moving average is $148.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.60. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.34 and a 12-month high of $193.00.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.83% and a return on equity of 56.90%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.42%.

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.

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