Thomasville National Bank Has $12.91 Million Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Thomasville National Bank lifted its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,214 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,261 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank's holdings in Zoetis were worth $12,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pensionfund Sabic raised its stake in Zoetis by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,825,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 279,092 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,684,000. B&L Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $563,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 572,511 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Zoetis Trading Up 1.8 %

ZTS stock traded up $2.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $166.31. 2,306,063 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,473,751. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.80 and a 52-week high of $200.53. The stock's fifty day moving average is $171.71 and its 200-day moving average is $180.29. The company has a market cap of $75.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 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 (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Zoetis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.