Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,626 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,138 shares during the period. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $13,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 14,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,550,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 6.2% in the second quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 12,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,212,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its stake in Zoetis by 94.0% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 47,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,308,000 after acquiring an additional 23,225 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 49,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,530,000 after purchasing an additional 5,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argent Trust Co increased its position in Zoetis by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 22,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $166.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $171.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.16. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.53.

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 analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

About Zoetis

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.