Morton Community Bank Acquires 705 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Morton Community Bank lifted its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,694 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the quarter. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 75,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,362,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 66,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,850,000 after buying an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 68,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,213,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Zoetis by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 217,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,371,000 after acquiring an additional 12,174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.90.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $170.34 on Monday. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.33. The firm has a market cap of $76.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 36.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.