Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Stake Lessened by Park National Corp OH

Park National Corp OH decreased its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,136 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,281 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $14,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pensionfund Sabic raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,834,000 after acquiring an additional 279,092 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,684,000. B&L Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $563,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,030,813,000 after purchasing an additional 185,364 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ZTS. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.89.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $163.68 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $73.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.42. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.59%.

Zoetis 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.