Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC Sells 1,067 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 22.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,780 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,067 shares during the quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,834,000 after buying an additional 279,092 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,684,000. 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. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS stock opened at $170.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.53. The company has a market cap of $76.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $169.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.65.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ZTS shares. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.00.

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.