Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $215.90.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ZTS. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. 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. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.8 %

Zoetis stock opened at $170.34 on Wednesday. Zoetis has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $166.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.74. The company has a market capitalization of $76.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Zoetis will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Zoetis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Company 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.