Norway Savings Bank Sells 199 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Norway Savings Bank lessened its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,271 shares of the company’s stock after selling 199 shares during the period. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,834,000 after purchasing an additional 279,092 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter worth approximately $11,684,000. B&L Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis during the third quarter valued at approximately $563,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,030,813,000 after acquiring an additional 185,364 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE:ZTS traded down $2.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $163.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,630,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,173,477. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.81 billion, a PE ratio of 30.75, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $173.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.47.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. 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. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 37.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.89.

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.