BankPlus Trust Department Buys Shares of 3,161 Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $515,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 482.8% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth about $31,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 80.6% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Zoetis Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $165.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $74.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $166.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.78.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. On average, analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ZTS shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.40.

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.