Bay Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 482.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Zoetis by 5,533.3% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 45.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $163.22 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.22. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $73.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ZTS. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $55,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at $2,682,770. This trade represents a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is 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.