OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Raises Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,756 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 14.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,899,000 after purchasing an additional 12,063 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 29.5% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 32.8% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 35,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,101,000 after purchasing an additional 8,688 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in Zoetis by 273.2% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Zoetis by 1.5% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 169,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,333,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partners initiated 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Zoetis from $248.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.00.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $170.33 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $169.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.65. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53. The company has a market cap of $76.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 37.59%.

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.