Seilern Investment Management Ltd Makes New $9.55 Million Investment in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Seilern Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 58,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,552,000. Zoetis makes up approximately 0.5% of Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pensionfund Sabic grew its position in Zoetis by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,834,000 after acquiring an additional 279,092 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,684,000. Finally, B&L Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $563,000. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:ZTS opened at $166.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The company has a market cap of $74.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $170.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.98.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. Zoetis’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ZTS. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.89.

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.