State of Alaska Department of Revenue Trims Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lowered its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,439 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,387 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $8,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,864,488,000 after buying an additional 95,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,030,813,000 after acquiring an additional 185,364 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 5.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,896,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $761,221,000 after acquiring an additional 194,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Zoetis by 10.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,834,000 after purchasing an additional 279,092 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. 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 objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.00.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $174.07 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $78.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 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.