Thrive Wealth Management LLC Cuts Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Thrive Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,197 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,123 shares during the quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 41,235.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 939,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,652,000 after purchasing an additional 937,700 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 7,608.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 835,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,874,000 after purchasing an additional 824,843 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Zoetis by 296.9% during the 4th 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 increased its position in Zoetis by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,266,000 after buying an additional 572,511 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $166.01 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $170.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.98. The firm has a market cap of $74.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.69. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $144.80 and a one year high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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