Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 87,007 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,021 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $14,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 29.5% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in Zoetis by 273.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 57.0% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 13,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,423,000 after buying an additional 5,073 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 105,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,594,000 after buying an additional 20,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its position in Zoetis by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 92,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,032,000 after buying an additional 5,339 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $170.81 on Monday. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53. The company has a market cap of $77.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.90. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.46.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ZTS. 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 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partners began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.00.

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.