R Squared Ltd Acquires Shares of 1,520 Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ZTS. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 80.6% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in Zoetis by 273.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $170.32 on Wednesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.53. 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 fifty day moving average price of $170.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.71. The company has a market cap of $76.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released 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 business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 37.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.