Benin Management CORP Grows Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Benin Management CORP grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,806 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Zoetis by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,864,488,000 after purchasing an additional 95,856 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,030,813,000 after buying an additional 185,364 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after buying an additional 4,829,815 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 5.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,896,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $761,221,000 after buying an additional 194,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 5.8% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,774,000 after buying an additional 166,517 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.89.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $168.63 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $170.23 and its 200 day moving average is $179.71. The stock has a market cap of $76.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.70, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.59%.

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.