Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Acquired by UMB Bank n.a.

UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,807 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $12,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pensionfund Sabic raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Zoetis by 10.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,834,000 after buying an additional 279,092 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Zoetis in the third quarter valued at $11,684,000. Finally, B&L Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Zoetis in the third quarter valued at $563,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ZTS. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partners began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.89.

Zoetis Stock Down 2.0 %

ZTS opened at $166.01 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.53. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

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

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.