Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Has $37.74 Million Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 9.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,712 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,361 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $37,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,159,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Zoetis by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,716,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,707,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,244,074 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its position in Zoetis by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 594,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,331,000 after purchasing an additional 158,459 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis during the first quarter valued at approximately $8,831,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 96,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,107,000 after purchasing an additional 3,075 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. HSBC decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $230.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $223.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.11.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Zoetis stock traded up $0.77 during trading on Monday, hitting $184.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,636,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,752,360. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 3.45 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $177.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.08. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $201.92. The stock has a market cap of $84.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.86.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.07. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.67% and a net margin of 26.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.432 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 18th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.14%.

About Zoetis

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.