Hantz Financial Services Inc. Purchases 21,357 Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,656 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,357 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $26,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its position in 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 during the period. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Zoetis by 10.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,834,000 after purchasing an additional 279,092 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,684,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $170.32 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.65. 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 $76.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89. 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 (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 last year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners began coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.89.

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.