Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Has $4.43 Million Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,204 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,647 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pensionfund Sabic raised its position in Zoetis by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 279,092 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Zoetis during the third quarter worth about $11,684,000. Finally, B&L Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis during the third quarter worth approximately $563,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $166.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $170.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.95. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $200.53. The company has a market capitalization of $74.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors 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 yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

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.