Benin Management CORP Buys 104 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Benin Management CORP boosted its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,806 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Benin Management CORP’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 351.7% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 7,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,206,000 after acquiring an additional 5,765 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 180.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,978 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth $271,000. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Zoetis by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 165,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,997,000 after buying an additional 21,750 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Zoetis Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $168.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $170.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.71. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio 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.