Empirical Asset Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 89,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,540,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 2.0% in the third quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Zoetis by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 11,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,298,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 18,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,628,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ZTS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.89.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.3 %

ZTS stock opened at $169.30 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $171.25 and a 200-day moving average of $180.07. The company has a market cap of $76.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.82, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

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.