Ayrshire Capital Management LLC Acquires 787 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,126 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 787 shares during the quarter. Zoetis makes up about 2.6% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $5,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,864,488,000 after buying an additional 95,856 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,030,813,000 after buying an additional 185,364 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,896,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $761,221,000 after buying an additional 194,542 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 5.8% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,774,000 after acquiring an additional 166,517 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.89.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $166.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $171.53 and a 200-day moving average of $180.22. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $75.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

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.