Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Sells 135 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division decreased its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 36.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $39,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 13,726.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,524,000 after buying an additional 4,829,815 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 41,235.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,652,000 after acquiring an additional 937,700 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 7,608.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 835,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,874,000 after purchasing an additional 824,843 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,809,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Zoetis by 17.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,377,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,497,000 after purchasing an additional 351,372 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ZTS shares. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a research report 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, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.22.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $163.31 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $173.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69.

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

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

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.