OLD National Bancorp IN Raises Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

OLD National Bancorp IN grew its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 31.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,552 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in Zoetis by 0.5% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 11,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 18,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,628,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $170.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The company has a market cap of $77.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $169.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.46. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.53.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.