Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Up 2.2%

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) traded up 2.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $154.40 and last traded at $153.02. 4,967,617 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 38% from the average session volume of 3,610,045 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com cut Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Zoetis from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.75.

Zoetis Trading Up 2.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $69.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $178.25 and its 200 day moving average is $180.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.25% and a net margin of 27.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.432 per share. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.12%.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 363 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.74, for a total value of $71,779.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,037,257.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 2,209 shares of company stock worth $408,453 in the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Zoetis by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,334,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,960,912,000 after purchasing an additional 536,477 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,716,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,707,262,000 after buying an additional 3,244,074 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,344,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,147,730,000 after purchasing an additional 297,044 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Zoetis by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,872,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,593,395,000 after acquiring an additional 2,796,694 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,617,464,000 after purchasing an additional 27,097 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.