Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Receives $215.22 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $215.22.

ZTS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th.

Institutional Trading of Zoetis

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 41,235.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,652,000 after buying an additional 937,700 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Zoetis by 7,608.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 835,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,874,000 after buying an additional 824,843 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Zoetis in the third quarter valued at $110,809,000. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 25.2% in the second quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,965,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,746,000 after acquiring an additional 395,192 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $164.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $74.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.99, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $178.52 and its 200 day moving average is $181.16. Zoetis has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm 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 was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. Research analysts predict that Zoetis will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 of this dividend 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 1.21%. 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.