UMB Bank n.a. Increases Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,807 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 661 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $12,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its position in Zoetis by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth about $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Zoetis by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,834,000 after acquiring an additional 279,092 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter worth about $11,684,000. Finally, B&L Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $563,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Zoetis Trading Down 2.0 %

ZTS opened at $166.01 on Monday. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $170.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.98. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

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