Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

Griffin Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 33,432 shares of the company’s stock after selling 951 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $5,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 reduced their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.89.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $173.07 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.75. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53. 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 firm has a market cap of $78.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly 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. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Zoetis’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.59%.

Zoetis Company 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.