Mechanics Bank Trust Department Lowers Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department cut its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,691 shares of the company’s stock after selling 206 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,905,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 41,235.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,652,000 after buying an additional 937,700 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 7,608.6% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 296.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,917,000 after purchasing an additional 665,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,266,000 after purchasing an additional 572,511 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $166.01 on Monday. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53. The company has a market capitalization of $74.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $170.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 32.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.89.

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.