Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Cuts Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lessened its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,265 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,723 shares during the period. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,524,000 after buying an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 41,235.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,652,000 after acquiring an additional 937,700 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position 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. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,266,000 after purchasing an additional 572,511 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth $110,809,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.89.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS traded up $2.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $166.31. The company had a trading volume of 2,089,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,457,063. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.53. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.29. The stock has a market cap of $75.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Zoetis Increases Dividend

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

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.