Edge Capital Group LLC Purchases 249 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Edge Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,043 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after buying an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 296.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,917,000 after acquiring an additional 665,331 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 572,511 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at $110,809,000. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth $66,123,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $165.51 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $166.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.53. The firm has a market cap of $74.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. On average, analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 36.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.40.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.