Hantz Financial Services Inc. Acquires 21,357 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,656 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,357 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $26,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pensionfund Sabic grew its stake in Zoetis by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 279,092 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter worth $11,684,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Zoetis by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,266,000 after purchasing an additional 572,511 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ZTS shares. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.89.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $170.32 on Wednesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $200.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.65. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. Analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business 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 yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 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.