LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Lowers Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC decreased its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,812 shares of the company’s stock after selling 297 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $5,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ZTS. Cove Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at $647,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 76,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,514,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth about $9,552,000. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 72.8% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,120,000 after purchasing an additional 10,630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partners began coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.89.

Zoetis Price Performance

ZTS opened at $166.01 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $170.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.98. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.80 and a twelve month high of $200.53. 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 capitalization of $74.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. Zoetis’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis 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 is Tuesday, January 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Zoetis 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.