Busey Bank Decreases Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Busey Bank reduced its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,570 shares of the company’s stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. Busey Bank’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 80.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in Zoetis by 273.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note 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. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.00.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $172.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.45, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.53. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.59.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 37.59%.

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.