Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ

Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ trimmed its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,315 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 10.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,834,000 after buying an additional 279,092 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter worth $11,684,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,266,000 after buying an additional 572,511 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.2 %

ZTS stock opened at $172.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. 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 of $169.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.00.

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.