Hager Investment Management Services LLC Acquires New Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $121,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 13,726.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,865,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,524,000 after buying an additional 4,829,815 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Zoetis by 296.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 889,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,917,000 after purchasing an additional 665,331 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 572,511 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,809,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $172.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.53. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.39. The stock has a market cap of $77.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. 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 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ZTS. 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 Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.00.

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.