Berkshire Bank Purchases Shares of 1,241 Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Berkshire Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position 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 valued at $950,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829,815 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 41,235.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,652,000 after purchasing an additional 937,700 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of 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. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,266,000 after buying an additional 572,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter worth about $110,809,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $173.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $78.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $170.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.75. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 37.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.