Norden Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Norden Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,348 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,582 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Callahan Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 6,221 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,764,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 237,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,617,000 after buying an additional 46,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2,050.0% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 30,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,904,000 after buying an additional 28,700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $167.58 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $166.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $75.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. As a group, equities 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.