Peddock Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Peddock Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,562 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in Zoetis by 80.6% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in Zoetis by 273.2% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ZTS traded up $2.99 on Monday, reaching $166.31. The company had a trading volume of 2,305,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,469,057. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.29. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.53. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 37.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ZTS. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.