Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Sells 24,107 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. cut its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 431,847 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,107 shares during the period. Zoetis makes up 0.8% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Zoetis worth $67,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. State Street Corp grew its position in Zoetis by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,864,488,000 after purchasing an additional 95,856 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,427,760 shares of the company's stock worth $2,030,813,000 after buying an additional 185,364 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $950,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,829,815 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 5.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,896,106 shares of the company's stock worth $761,221,000 after acquiring an additional 194,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 5.8% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,044,384 shares of the company's stock valued at $527,774,000 after purchasing an additional 166,517 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.00.

Zoetis Price Performance

Zoetis stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $170.33. The company had a trading volume of 2,111,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,740,963. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.65. The company has a market cap of $76.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 yield of 1.17%. Zoetis's payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

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.