Brokerages Set Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Price Target at $211.89

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $211.89.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ZTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS stock opened at $166.01 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $170.93 and its 200-day moving average is $179.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $74.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned $1.36 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 13,726.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,829,815 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 41,235.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,652,000 after acquiring an additional 937,700 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Zoetis by 7,608.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 835,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,874,000 after acquiring an additional 824,843 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 296.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,917,000 after buying an additional 665,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake 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 worth $336,266,000 after buying an additional 572,511 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.