Hills Bank & Trust Co Acquires 247 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 13.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,082 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 273.2% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1,387.5% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the second quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $181.95 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $188.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.51. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $201.92. The company has a market cap of $82.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 3.45.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.29% and a return on equity of 50.67%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.432 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 33.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $221.44.

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.