Peterson Wealth Services Boosts Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Peterson Wealth Services grew its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1,615.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,374 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,128 shares during the quarter. Peterson Wealth Services’ holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,886,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,532,276,000 after purchasing an additional 330,823 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,081,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,721,356,000 after buying an additional 95,294 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Zoetis during the second quarter worth $809,491,000. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Zoetis by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,659,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $726,629,000 after purchasing an additional 250,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Zoetis by 113.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,761,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,491 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of ZTS opened at $124.94 on Tuesday. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.25 and a fifty-two week high of $177.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $124.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.87. The firm has a market cap of $55.06 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 3.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 57.19% and a net margin of 28.21%.The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 35.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ZTS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $136.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $160.00 price target on Zoetis in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, December 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.45.

About Zoetis

Zoetis Inc (NYSE: ZTS) is a global animal health company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of products and services for companion animals and livestock. The company’s offerings include pharmaceuticals, vaccines and biologics, parasiticides and anti-infectives, as well as diagnostic instruments, consumables and laboratory testing services. Zoetis serves the veterinary community, livestock producers and other animal-health customers with products designed to prevent, detect and treat disease and to support animal productivity and welfare.

Zoetis traces its roots to the animal health business of Pfizer and became an independent, publicly traded company following a 2013 separation and initial public offering.