Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Sold by Bath Savings Trust Co

Bath Savings Trust Co lowered its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 24.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,163 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,519 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co's holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ZTS. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth $31,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth $33,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 80.6% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 273.2% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS traded down $2.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $163.68. The company had a trading volume of 2,488,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,415,422. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.47. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 1.22%. Zoetis's payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

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.