Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Holdings Lifted by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,599 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $6,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 worth $569,834,000 after acquiring an additional 279,092 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth $11,684,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,266,000 after purchasing an additional 572,511 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. 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 target for the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.89.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $170.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $76.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $170.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.71.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Zoetis 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.