Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Buys 341 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,186 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis during the third quarter worth $31,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Zoetis during the third quarter worth $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Zoetis during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 80.6% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.40.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $164.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $73.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $166.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.58. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.53.

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

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.