Eastern Bank Sells 8,733 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Eastern Bank lessened its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 141,047 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,733 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank's holdings in Zoetis were worth $22,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 2.9% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 341,259 shares of the company's stock worth $59,161,000 after acquiring an additional 9,476 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the second quarter valued at about $474,000. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 19.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 5,176 shares of the company's stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 10.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,250,793 shares of the company's stock worth $390,197,000 after buying an additional 208,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 33.8% during the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock traded up $2.99 during trading on Monday, hitting $166.31. 2,306,064 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,500,038. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This is a positive change from Zoetis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Zoetis's payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

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.