Morton Community Bank Invests $3.12 Million in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Morton Community Bank acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,124,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,703 shares of the company's stock worth $1,471,000 after buying an additional 776 shares during the period. Burney Co. grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 10.1% during the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 4,229 shares of the company's stock worth $716,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Zoetis by 275.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 96,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,259,000 after purchasing an additional 70,476 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 45.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 21,563 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,649,000 after buying an additional 6,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the company's stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

ZTS stock traded down $1.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $175.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,543,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,880,750. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $201.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $183.83 and a 200 day moving average of $180.92.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Zoetis's payout ratio is currently 32.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ZTS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Argus raised Zoetis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $221.44.

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.