Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO Boosts Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,581 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter worth about $31,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 80.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 273.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners began coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.89.

Zoetis Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $173.07 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.75. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.53. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $78.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. Zoetis’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.59%.

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.