Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Has $724,000 Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,441 shares of the company’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ZTS. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 86.8% during the fourth quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 10,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,673,000 after buying an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Zoetis by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 52,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,538,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $898,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Zoetis by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $170.32 on Wednesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69. The stock has a market cap of $76.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $170.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.71.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released 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 business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.