Wendell David Associates Inc. Sells 2,110 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Wendell David Associates Inc. lowered its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,962 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,110 shares during the period. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 69.1% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 17,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,996,000 after purchasing an additional 7,061 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 59.5% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 87,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,204,000 after purchasing an additional 32,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 16.8% during the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $917,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $166.64 on Thursday. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.53. The company has a market cap of $75.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $170.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.89.

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.