Regatta Capital Group LLC Invests $1.74 Million in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Regatta Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 10,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,743,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,030,813,000 after acquiring an additional 185,364 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Zoetis by 13,726.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829,815 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 5.3% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 194,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,774,000 after purchasing an additional 166,517 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. One equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.89.

Zoetis Price Performance

Zoetis stock opened at $168.63 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $170.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.66. The company has a market capitalization of $76.08 billion, a PE ratio of 31.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.53. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. Analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. This is a positive change 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 presently 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.