Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Takes $232,000 Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 5,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after buying an additional 1,219 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,372,000. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $166.01 on Monday. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $170.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The stock has a market cap of $74.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. 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 yield of 1.20%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

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.