Grove Bank & Trust Increases Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 36.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,065 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,302 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,864,488,000 after acquiring an additional 95,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,030,813,000 after purchasing an additional 185,364 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829,815 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,896,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $761,221,000 after purchasing an additional 194,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,774,000 after purchasing an additional 166,517 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $166.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $170.93 and a 200 day moving average of $179.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business 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 company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.