Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Bought by Childress Capital Advisors LLC

Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 30.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,599 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 29.5% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 273.2% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Zoetis by 57.0% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 13,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,423,000 after purchasing an additional 5,073 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Zoetis by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 105,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,594,000 after purchasing an additional 20,001 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 6.1% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 92,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,032,000 after purchasing an additional 5,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ZTS shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. 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 target price for the company. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.00.

Zoetis Price Performance

Zoetis stock opened at $171.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $77.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $169.62 and its 200 day moving average is $179.44. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.53.

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

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. 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. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

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.