HCR Wealth Advisors Cuts Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

HCR Wealth Advisors cut its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,936 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,534 shares during the quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Burney Co. increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 4,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in Zoetis by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 6,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,070,000 after buying an additional 1,334 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 24,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after buying an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Zoetis by 296.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,917,000 after buying an additional 665,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $916,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ZTS. 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 report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.89.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $167.23 on Thursday. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $200.53. The firm has a market cap of $75.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $171.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.16. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Zoetis Company 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.