Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Acquired by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,398 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,464 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fulcrum Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC now owns 50,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,280,000 after buying an additional 1,575 shares during the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its stake in Zoetis by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 10,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 79,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,906,000 after purchasing an additional 3,261 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 1,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $663,000. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $166.31 on Tuesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.53. The firm has a market cap of $75.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $171.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.22. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.