Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Acquired by Geneos Wealth Management Inc.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,705 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,776 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pensionfund Sabic raised its position in Zoetis by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company's stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $569,834,000 after buying an additional 279,092 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,684,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Zoetis by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company's stock worth $336,266,000 after buying an additional 572,511 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ZTS traded up $4.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $173.07. 2,404,493 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,816,289. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.53. The company has a market cap of $78.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $170.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.75.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company 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 company's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This is an increase from Zoetis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is 37.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.