Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Grows Stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,705 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Benin Management CORP lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 4,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 351.7% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 7,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 5,765 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 180.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,000 after buying an additional 2,978 shares during the period. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. One equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.89.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.0 %

ZTS stock opened at $168.63 on Monday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.70. The firm has a market cap of $76.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 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.