Welch & Forbes LLC Purchases Shares of 2,197 Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Welch & Forbes LLC purchased a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 1.8% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Scott & Selber Inc. grew its position in Zoetis by 0.6% in the second quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 11,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.9% during the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.3% during the first quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 3.2% during the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 2,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ZTS opened at $144.43 on Tuesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.34 and a 12-month high of $181.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Zoetis had a return on equity of 56.90% and a net margin of 27.83%.The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on ZTS shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Zoetis from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 20th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Leerink Partners lowered Zoetis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $195.00.

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.