Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Has $11.01 Million Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,562 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $11,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Zoetis by 10.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,834,000 after buying an additional 279,092 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Zoetis during the third quarter worth about $11,684,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,266,000 after buying an additional 572,511 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $172.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $169.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.39. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $77.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.00.

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.