Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) have received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $215.90.

ZTS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In related news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock valued at $312,254. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zoetis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Callahan Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 90.4% in the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 6,221 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,617,000 after acquiring an additional 46,050 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth $1,764,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 2,050.0% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,904,000 after acquiring an additional 28,700 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $164.39 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $166.94 and a 200 day moving average of $176.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. As a group, research analysts expect that Zoetis will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

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.