Morton Community Bank Buys Shares of 15,989 Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Morton Community Bank bought a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,124,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,829,815 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in Zoetis by 546.3% in the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,253,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904,899 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 41,235.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,652,000 after acquiring an additional 937,700 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Zoetis by 7,608.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 835,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,874,000 after acquiring an additional 824,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Zoetis by 56.2% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,946,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,407,000 after acquiring an additional 700,398 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $175.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $183.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.92. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $201.92. The stock has a market cap of $79.07 billion, a PE ratio of 32.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $221.44.

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.