Portside Wealth Group LLC Sells 230 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Portside Wealth Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,066 shares of the company’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Zoetis by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,864,488,000 after purchasing an additional 95,856 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,030,813,000 after purchasing an additional 185,364 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,896,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $761,221,000 after acquiring an additional 194,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,774,000 after acquiring an additional 166,517 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Zoetis Price Performance

Zoetis stock opened at $166.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $170.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 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. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders 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 currently 32.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.