Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Acquired by Simon Quick Advisors LLC

Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,017 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Commons Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Commons Capital LLC now owns 6,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,353,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,175,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Zoetis by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 26,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,302,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Zoetis Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $166.64 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.89. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.59%.

Zoetis Company 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.