YANKCOM Partnership Buys Shares of 2,904 Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 23.4% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 105,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,594,000 after acquiring an additional 20,001 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 6.1% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 92,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,032,000 after acquiring an additional 5,339 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Zoetis by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in Zoetis by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 176,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,493,000 after purchasing an additional 36,384 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $175.65 on Thursday. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53. The company has a market capitalization of $79.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.02, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 37.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.