Commons Capital LLC Buys 199 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Commons Capital LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,892 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Zoetis comprises 1.0% of Commons Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Commons Capital LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,353,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,175,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 26,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,302,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 75,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,272,000 after buying an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of 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 shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.89.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Zoetis stock opened at $167.50 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $170.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.95. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.57 billion, a PE ratio of 31.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.89. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Zoetis 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.