1,661 Shares in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Acquired by Whalen Wealth Management Inc.

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% during 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 41,235.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,652,000 after buying an additional 937,700 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Zoetis by 296.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,917,000 after acquiring an additional 665,331 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted 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 valued at $336,266,000 after acquiring an additional 572,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter worth about $110,809,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on ZTS shares. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.89.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $166.64 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $75.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.53. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $170.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.80.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Zoetis 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.