KG&L Capital Management LLC Takes $790,000 Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $790,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Dohj LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at about $408,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Swmg LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $265,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 12,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,072,000 after buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ZTS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.00.

Zoetis Trading Down 1.1 %

ZTS opened at $170.81 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $169.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.89. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week 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.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

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.