Norway Savings Bank Sells 199 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Norway Savings Bank lowered its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,271 shares of the company’s stock after selling 199 shares during the quarter. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,864,488,000 after buying an additional 95,856 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,030,813,000 after buying an additional 185,364 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 194,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,774,000 after purchasing an additional 166,517 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.89.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS stock traded down $2.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $163.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,630,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,173,477. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $173.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.47. The firm has a market cap of $73.81 billion, a PE ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors 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 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

Zoetis Company 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.