Here’s Why Baron Funds Remains Optimistic in Zoetis (ZTS)

Baron Funds, an asset management firm, published its “Baron Health Care Fund” first quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. In the quarter ended March 31, 2022, Baron Health Care Fund (the “Fund”) declined 9.93% (Institutional Shares), compared with the 4.56% decline for the Russell 3000 Health Care Index (the “Benchmark”) and the 4.60% decline for the S&P 500 Index. Try to spend some time taking a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022.

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Baron Health Care Fund mentioned Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1952, Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) is a Florham Park, New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company with a $74.2 billion market capitalization. Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) delivered a -35.34% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -15.01%. The stock closed at $157.80 per share on June 14, 2022.

Here is what Baron Health Care Fund has to say about Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“Shares of Zoetis Inc., the global leader in the discovery, development, and manufacturing of companion and farm animal health medicine and vaccines, fell along with shares of other high-multiple 2021 standout performers. We retain conviction as Zoetis recently reported a top and bottom line beat with more than 21% growth driven by dermatology, parasiticides, and recently launched monoclonal osteoarthritic treatments. The company’s 2022 guidance was in line with Street expectations, calling for 9% to 11% operational revenue growth and modest margin expansion despite heavy investment in core growth drivers.”

Photo by Karlo Tottoc on Unsplash

Our calculations show that Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) was in 67 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2022, compared to 61 funds in the previous quarter. Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) delivered a -16.56% return in the past 3 months.

In November 2021, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.

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