New Hampshire Trust Sells 769 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

New Hampshire Trust decreased its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,737 shares of the company’s stock after selling 769 shares during the period. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Zoetis by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 11,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 18,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,628,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 3.5% in the third quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

ZTS opened at $166.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.01. The firm has a market cap of $74.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 32.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ZTS. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.89.

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.