Ieq Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,377 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 80.6% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $214.90.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $160.39 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.53. The stock has a market cap of $71.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.32, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $166.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 36.56%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.