Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 260 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,743 shares of the company’s stock after selling 260 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $18,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 11,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 18,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,628,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Down 2.0 %

ZTS stock opened at $166.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $74.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.89. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $170.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.95. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53.

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

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 32.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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