Here’s Why Zoetis (ZTS) Detracted in Q1

Aristotle Atlantic Partners, LLC, an investment advisor, released its “Core Equity Strategy” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, Aristotle Atlantic’s Focus Growth strategy returned 12.02% gross of fees (11.91% net of fees) outperforming the S&P 500 Index’s 10.56% total return. The relative outperformance was due to security selection. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2024.

Aristotle Atlantic Core Equity Strategy highlighted stocks like Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS), with a market capitalization of $77.602 billion, involves in the development, discovery and marketing of animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products and services. The one-month return of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) was 7.35%, and its shares gained 3.24% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 24, 2024, Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) stock closed at $170.07 per share.

Aristotle Atlantic Core Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

"Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) detracted from portfolio performance in the quarter, despite a solid U.S. launch of Librela, a drug to treat osteoarthritis in dogs, in the U.S. Management addressed safety concerns on Librela, citing extremely low incidences of Ataxia in dogs. We believe that concerns about these safety issues negatively impacted Zoetis in the quarter. Shares now trade at a discount to five-year average valuation multiples and continue to benefit from increase pet ownership and increasing protein demand in the company’s livestock business."

A veterinarian administering a vaccine to a herd of cattle in a farm.

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS), in the first quarter, delivered revenue of $2.2 billion, a 10% growth on a on a reported basis and 12% on an operational basis. Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 65 hedge fund portfolios held Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) at the end of the first quarter which was 50 in the previous quarter.

In another article, we discussed Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) and shared the list of most promising stocks to buy before they take off. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.