Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Increases Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 524,035 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,677 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.12% of Zoetis worth $90,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 30,834 shares of the company's stock worth $5,024,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA boosted its stake in Zoetis by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 3,003 shares of the company's stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden boosted its stake in Zoetis by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 144,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management boosted its stake in Zoetis by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 125,086 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 31,552 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,141,000 after purchasing an additional 5,340 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ZTS. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Zoetis stock traded up $3.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $170.34. The company had a trading volume of 3,296,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,274,650. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $166.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Zoetis's payout ratio is 36.56%.

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.