Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Thrive Wealth Management LLC

Thrive Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 17.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,197 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,123 shares during the quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,834,000 after purchasing an additional 279,092 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter worth $11,684,000. Finally, B&L Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth $563,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Down 2.0 %

ZTS opened at $166.01 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $170.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.98. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53. The company has a market cap of $74.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.89.

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.