Ieq Capital LLC Acquires 344 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 27,377 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis in the third quarter worth $31,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Zoetis in the third quarter worth $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Zoetis in the third quarter worth $33,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 80.6% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 482.8% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ZTS shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $214.90.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS stock opened at $160.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $166.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.04. The company has a market capitalization of $71.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.32, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.53.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.