Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Purchased by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,033 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 13,726.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Zoetis by 296.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,917,000 after buying an additional 665,331 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position 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 worth $336,266,000 after acquiring an additional 572,511 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter worth $110,809,000. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $66,123,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.40.

Zoetis Stock Down 2.1 %

ZTS stock opened at $164.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.58. The company has a market capitalization of $73.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.16, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.