Harvey Investment Co. LLC Increases Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Harvey Investment Co. LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 18,878 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the quarter. Harvey Investment Co. LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 2.0% during the third quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 0.5% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 11,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in Zoetis by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 18,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,628,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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 raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.00.

Zoetis Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $174.07 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. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.53. The stock has a market cap of $78.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $169.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.28.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during 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%. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 1.15%. 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.