Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 39.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,647 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,026 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in Zoetis by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Zoetis by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,834,000 after acquiring an additional 279,092 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,684,000. Finally, B&L Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter worth about $563,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ZTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.89.

Zoetis Stock Down 2.0 %

Zoetis stock opened at $166.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.98. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

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.