International Assets Investment Management LLC Trims Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 99.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,644 shares of the company’s stock after selling 936,330 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 2.9% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 341,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,161,000 after acquiring an additional 9,476 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 899,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,013,000 after purchasing an additional 49,232 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 175.3% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,404,000 after purchasing an additional 19,846 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Zoetis by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 9,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Finally, Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Zoetis by 40.1% in the second quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 26,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,610,000 after buying an additional 7,615 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ZTS shares. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.89.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.0 %

ZTS stock opened at $163.30 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $171.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 37.59%.

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.