Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 165,694 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,750 shares during the period. Zoetis makes up about 1.2% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $26,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pensionfund Sabic grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,834,000 after purchasing an additional 279,092 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter valued at $11,684,000. Finally, B&L Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter valued at approximately $563,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $166.64 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.80. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The firm’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 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.89.

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.