Salvus Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 41.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,177 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 938 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 41,235.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,652,000 after purchasing an additional 937,700 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Zoetis by 7,608.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 835,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,874,000 after purchasing an additional 824,843 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 296.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,917,000 after buying an additional 665,331 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,266,000 after buying an additional 572,511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $169.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $76.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $171.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.07. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 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.